#decided against it. potentially a bullet dodged. better to block and move on.

[therevengeoffrankenstein]

still feeling a little panicky after recognizing the art style of an ex friend on here!!! but it's getting better all the time.

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

Locked and Reloaded [Ch. 5]

Marvel AU

TW: Language, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Blood, Gun Violence, Implied Abusive Household

Genre: Action, Light Comedy, Angst

Pairing: NCT Dream x Reader

YN Pronouns: Female (She/Her)

(5/?) [First] | [Previous] | [Next]

[Main Masterlist] | [Locked and Reloaded Masterlist]

Word Count: 6.5K

Notes: It’s about time these members entered the story. I’m dropping this now instead of a Saturday upload because I’m getting my second dose of vaccine in about nine hours, and from how both of my parents reacted something tells me that I’m going to be incapacitated for the next two days, so I decided to finish this bad boy up now! Currently next on my list to work on is Infatuation, so I’ll see you in that update!

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in or condone these actions. I would never wish any of these actions to occur to the Idol(s) mentioned in the writings of these stories, nor do I wish any harm on them.

“That’s stupid,” you told your older brother. Baekhyun just laughed. You had just finished ranting to him how a majority of the premise of chemistry was ridiculous, being founded on one key theory that could be amended at any moment, something now set in stone or put to law. It was a theoretical science that clashed with the lawfulness of physics and the puzzle of biology. “Chemistry is literally the weakest link.”

“I don’t quite think so, songbird,” the nickname was sweet in his voice, it was one you had had for as long as you could remember. He leans against your desk and he points at the picture. “It’s just atomic theory.”

“Yeah, and it’s stupid. Imagine, all of this work, all seven hundred of these pages and countless other books could get proved incorrect if someone disproves it.”

“You read this entire textbook and that’s all you have to say about it?” Baekhyun raised his eyebrow and crossed his arms. “Wah, you’re so amazing and you don’t even know it,” he hugged your head to his stomach and you pushed him away.

“Ew, you’re so gross,” you wiped the sweat from your face. “At least shower before coming into my room! You’re disgusting when you use the gym.”

“And miss my darling sister? No way, that and I came to congratulate you!” He points at the certificate on your desk just under your coffee mug. “Not every day you win the science fair… again.”

“Yeah, yeah, thanks,” you put a textbook over it. He was right, but it was hardly an achievement for you at this point, it was an expectation.

“What did you do this year?” None of them even showed up, the only person there to help you with your project was Jeno, but he was always there whether you liked it or not.

“You don’t know?”

“I was at the conference, remember?”

“Oh, right,” you sighed. “It was just an observation on bees.”

“Whoa! Bees are great! They’re so helpful for pollination, for honey, and so much more!” Baekhyun smiles. “Hey, your birthday’s coming up, right? Fourteen? Oh god, oh no, my songbird? A teen? I don’t think I can handle this.”

“You’re overreacting! It’s not like I’m going to be any different. Plus, I’m already a teen.”

“Oh, (Y/N), you have no idea. Thirteen is the one year free trial before you start having to pay to be a teen. Once you turn fourteen, ugh, I don’t even know how to say this,” Baekhyun fake cries and wipes away the invisible tears. “It’ll be like you’re a whole different person.”

“Stop that! Why are you acting so weird?” You laughed and turned to him. Baekhyun crossed his arms over his chest and your smile dropped. You knew that look on his face better than anyone. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, I leave tonight,” he says.

“How long?”

“Maybe a week this time, dad wants to show me the properties over in Zone 8.”

“Seriously? What for?” The factories that far out from the city were nearly ghost factories, they just handled building the smaller removable parts of the weapons your father developed. You couldn’t think of a possible reason why Baekhyun would have to go out that far.

“I have no clue, maybe he just wants me to see the Byun system at a smaller scale,” Baekhyun sighs. “Will you be okay here?”

“Will I be okay here? Don’t make me laugh,” you slammed your textbook shut and stared at him. “She hates me.”

“Don’t say that.”

“She does! You’ve seen the way she talks to me when you’re not around, Baek, I genuinely think that woman wants to get rid of me.”

“She’s your mother.”

“No, she’s your mother.” You didn’t mean for it to come out as accusing as it did. But you could genuinely say that you never felt anything from her aside from the obvious disdain she must have held for you. But what could you do? You’d hate you too. If one day your husband showed up at your doorstep with a kid you didn’t recognize telling you to treat her as if she was your own, you’d despise that child’s existence. All you were was proof of infidelity, and your stepmother made that very clear. You were her daughter on paper alone, but in reality, you were nothing more than a freeloader. “I’m just the bastard kid from dad’s mistress.”

“Do not,” Baekhyun held a finger up and stared at you with an intensity you’ve never seen on his face before. Seriousness wasn’t something that Baekhyun often used, especially around you. “Do not ever reduce yourself to that. Do you understand? You are so much more than that and you can’t let anyone who says that to you bring you down, you cannot let that weigh on you. Who even told you that?”

“She did. Who else?”

“God…” Baekhyun looked away and huffed. He held his hand to his forehead and sighed. “Keep in touch with me, okay? Just one more year and I can take it to court.”

“Forget it, Baek,” you waved your hand. “It would never work. We have no proof.”

“Well,” Baekhyun pressed his lips together and placed a tape in front of you.

“A tape? Seriously?”

“Don’t hate on old tech, they’re still around for a reason. I have a walkman in my room, second drawer on my desk. Listen to it later, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” you placed the tape in your own drawer, out of sight and out of mind.

“Just wait for me, alright?”

“Yeah.”

“(Y/N), I’m serious.”

“I know.”

“I’ll be back, okay?”

“Okay, just go, dad’s probably waiting for you,” you opened your textbook again and stared at the passages on it. You had a really bad feeling about tonight, but you couldn’t quite place your finger on it.

“Love you, songbird.”

“I know.”

~

“Sungchan! Four o’clock!” You shouted towards the agent. Sungchan, moving a second too late was met with the spine of a book to his face, promptly knocking him out. “Aw, geez,” you shoved your bag under a table, hoping that it would be somewhat okay after the fight, and threw a metal tray, the circular object blocking one of the flying weapons from hitting Shotaro on his way to Sungchan.

“Thank you!” He shouts. He leans next to his best friend and tries to wake him up while the fight continued.

“I’ll try to keep you guys covered, but you might need to fill in for me eventually, Reaper’s not doing too good over there,” you stumbled over to the two and handed Shotaro one of the pillows from the couch. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah, just knocked out, but I have to watch him just in case… you know.”

“I do, just make sure he’s fine.”

With Jeno’s sudden appearance the Sanctum became a new battleground. Ancient artifacts were being used left and right for battle, whether they were used correctly or not, and with incoherent shouts filling the previously calm room. Strange was doing his best to prevent anything potentially world-threatening from happening, the Sorcerer Supreme understanding the laws of the universe, as well as any of you did, while the Maverick worked to bring down Vulture. The surprise attack rendered them at an unfortunate disadvantage. Strange was more concerned with keeping the battle within the Sanctum than he was helping any of you out, which was entirely understandable.

“I got it!” Peter shoved back the bookcase that was about to fall on you.

“Thanks, Peter.”

“Just so you know I am so sorry I did not mean for any of this to happen I didn’t know.”

“Oh goodness, no hard feelings, Peter, it happens to the best of us,” you said to him. “There’s no way you could’ve known.”

“Thanks, (Y/N), that means a— Watch out!” He pushed you out of the way just as a shield lodged itself between you, you turned towards the source and saw Vulture, and you had to stop yourself from getting any more frustrated than you already are.

“Fucking hell,” you clapped your hands together and jogged in place. “Stretching before fights is good for you, Peter, don’t forget that,” you said to him. Then you saw Cap waving his hand. You pulled the shield from its spot and threw it back to him.

“Nice arm!”

“Don’t lose your shit!” You moved your head to the side just as a bullet whizzed past you. “And watch where you’re aiming!” You dodged another bullet as it ricocheted off of one of the metal artifacts of the Sanctum.

“I am,” Jaemin’s voice was steady despite the chaos. “Reaper!” Jaemin tossed one o the artifacts towards the other, particularly a sharp one, and Jeno drove it into the wall next to Vulture, just barely grazing the Follower. Vulture grabbed onto the back of Jeno’s neck, the razor claws on his hands emerging and sinking into the half-demon before Vulture slammed Jeno’s head through the wall.

“Urgh, I felt that,” you rubbed the back of your neck as the phantom pain shot through it. You quickly stepped back just as an eldritch whip snapped in front of you.

“Mr. Wong?!” Peter gasps.

“That one isn’t in our database,” Jaemin grabbed onto the whip as it went towards you again, ‘Wong’ staring at him with a slight confusion, to which Jaemin just tugged it away from the other’s hands, watching the concentrated energy dissipate.

“Well then add him later, dammit,” you charged towards Vulture but soon felt something wrap around your ankle. You looked at the portal next to your foot and the hand around it. “Ew! Oh my god!” You yanked it out of ‘Wong’s’ grasp and shot towards him, the bullets disappearing before they could get anywhere close. No wonder it was so fucking convenient, you hoped whoever the real Wong was and where he was currently wasn’t too horrible.

“We should name this guy,” Jaemin dodged the eldritch disk that nearly sliced his throat. “I’m thinking Frisbee.”

“Oh come on, let’s stay true to tradition and wait for Hyuck,” you pulled a sword from the suit of armor next to you and blocked the whip again. You turned the hilt in your hand and smiled. “Ooh, I like this. You know my ex used to be an expert fencer.”

“I almost forgot about that one,” Jaemin hums. “What’s with sleeping beauty over there?”

“Got hit in a face with a book.”

“Oh that’s good, one less bomb we have to worry about.”

“That’s rude,” you scolded him.

“Can someone help me over here?!” Jeno’s pissed off voice came from the office. He pushed himself up from the rubble and cracked his neck before his knuckles. “I’m going to kill this guy, fuck the Agreement.”

“Does the Agreement even apply this far out?” You asked. Jaemin pulled out his phone briefly. The Agreement was offered by the D98 Avengers, basically promising not to do any dimension altering things, but it was just a promise, nothing was set in stone and thus was lacking in any legality. It was a gentleman’s promise, so to say.

“Technically it doesn’t, D62 is far out of D98 bounds. And since none of the Avengers are here…” Jaemin let Jeno fill in the blanks himself.

“Good,” Jeno tapped his wrists together, a blood-red magic circle appearing between them.

“Wait, do you guys hear that?” You looked around while skillfully parrying evil Wong’s attacks.

“Hear what?” Shotaro was nursing the passed out Sungchan while blocking any projectiles that made their way towards him.

“It kind of sounds like screaming,” Jaemin furrowed his eyebrows.

“No, it sounds like… no, of all the members to send,” you groaned. Then the sound of doors crashing open accompanied the chaos that was the Sanctum while a familiar face ran in head first, literally, screaming his head off, and rams into Dr. Strange.

“I got this one, V! Don’t worry!” Chenle shouts.

“You idiot he’s on our side!” Jeno grabs a polearm from a nearby suit of armor and whacks it over Vulture’s head, the polearm breaking in half right after and really just pissing off the Follower more.

“Oh is he? Sorry!” Chenle detached himself from the sorcerer.

“Looks like we’ll be having a change in plans,” Strange murmured and disappeared from the room.

“Did the wizard just dip?!” You yelled.

“I think so!” Chenle yelled back, despite being right next to you.

“Why are you even here?!”

“We were talking to Fury when Jeno just fell into a sudden pool of blood! I followed your tracker here because I figured you’re in trouble. Be grateful!”

“I never said I wasn’t?!” You heard a pang next to you and turned to your side, a circular shield blocking your vision for only a brief moment before connecting with Other Wong’s abdomen.

“Thanks,” you nodded towards Steve.

“No problem,” he says. “But where’d that bullet come from?” Cap looks around the room. Jaemin rushes next to you and grabs something, pointing it upwards. Within a few moments, someone materializes next to him. A classic cloaking spell, of course, right when you needed it most.

“Monsieur,” her voice was hoarse.

“Lynx,” you saw him grimace while the woman drove a knife into Jaemin’s side and twisted it harshly. A loud groan left the man’s throat while you darted next to him and tackled the woman to the ground.

“I like your D62 version better!” You pressed your gun to her head and she threw you off before you could pull the trigger.

“Nat!?” Steve blocked another gunshot from her with his shield.

“Not Nat,” Bucky answers.

“Where have you been?”

“This thing’s still glowing,” Bucky held up the crystal.

“Give that to me!” Chenle appears next to them and grabs it. “You meaty idiots don’t know what to do with this.”

“Was that an insult?”

“Apperio!” Chenle ignored the Captain and chanted the charm, a magic circle appeared around the crystal. Following the ripple of two blue circles that expanded throughout the room, two more people appeared.

“There’s more of them?!” You shot Vulture in the leg. Before you were two other notorious members of the Elite. Arachnid, who you fought before, and Dead Shot, someone you were hoping not to run into in this dimension. “Someone get Parker out of here as soon as he touches Arachnid it’s over!” You shout.

“Oh please, I wouldn’t even try that. What good is this mission if any of us blow up the dimension while we’re at it,” Arachnid catches the flying dagger and flings it back towards Jaemin, who easily dodged it.

“We have orders to keep you alive, Vendetta, comply and the others will live,” Dead Shot spoke in his trademarked mechanical voice.

“Fuck that,” you pointed your gun at Arachnid and click. Click, click. “Well, this is awkward,” you chucked the magnum at Arachnid, the handle of the gun hitting the area between the mutant’s eyes and stunning him briefly, while Dead Shot released a flurry of bullets. You ran along the wall to dodge them, looking for something to shield yourself with now that Cap and Bucky were busy with Lynx, Jeno had Vulture busy, and Jaemin moved over to Arachnid so that Peter could handle Evil-Wong instead.

“Surrender or be forced to, Vendetta.”

“Well, shit,” you held a book in front of you while Dead Shot went through consecutive rounds.

“How could you not know a Follower was here?!” Jeno was pushed back next to you while deflecting Vulture’s attacks.

“How the hell was I supposed to know?! I didn’t even know that those three were here until a couple of minutes ago!”

“Are you kidding me?!”

“No, I’m not kidding you because if I was we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“It has been thirty minutes! I let you and Jaemin go for thirty minutes and this happens!”

“In our defense,” Jaemin gets pushed back to the other side of you and clears his throat. “Peter brought us here.”

“I said I’m sorry!” Peter brushes off the embers on his suit. “Aw man, how am I going to explain this to Mr. Stark?”

“Explain? Have you been reporting us to him?!” You asked.

“Uh… no,” Peter’s phone goes off and he answers it. “Hi, Mr. Stark, there’s kind of a situation going on right now—”

“Tell them not to come here! If any of the other Followers show up it could tear the fabric of reality apart!” Chenle shouts. A magic circle appears under Peter’s phone and it short circuits. Chenle adjusts the watch around his wrist, a much larger magic circle appearing from it.

“Vocavi te ab umbris,” at the utterance of the words the shadows in the room gathered together to a much larger amalgamate. “Go, Vendetta, I’ll keep them handled.”

“Fuck,” you spotted your backpack, which was pushed up against the wall on the other side of the room.

“What now?” Jeno asks.

“Backpack.”

“What about it?”

“There’s something really important in there,” Jaemin sounded disappointed. “We could hole-in-one it, V.”

“We could,” you said. “But that risks shaking it up too much.

“Hot potato then?” Jeno offers.

“Who would start it?”

“The closest person is Shotaro, if he throws it far enough I could probably catch it,” Jeno says. “Pass it over to Jaemin.”

“Then I’ll pass it to you. But by then you need to be in that hallway,” Jaemin says.

“Got it, I can do that.”

“And if anything goes wrong?”

“Wing it.”

“We’re going to die in this dimension, aren’t we?” Jeno frowns.

“On the count of three, break,” Jaemin says, ignoring his best friend’s words. You hand Jeno the old sword, which he took without question. “One.”

“What do I need this for?”

“Well, I certainly don’t need it.”

“Two.”

“Wait, are we even on the same page?”

“I don’t know, are we?”

“Three!” Jaemin shoved you forward and you took off, dodging literally everything on your way to get out and probably get some more help.

“Shotaro! Pass me that backpack!” Jeno shouts over the gunshots. Shotaro perked up and grabbed the black bag, chucking it towards Jeno, who caught it easily. “Monsieur— Fuck, too far, Apollo! Pass this over to him!” Jeno tossed the backpack towards Chenle, the heavy bag slamming into the magician mid-spell.

“What the hell?!”

“Pass it here!” Jaemin knocked over Lynx and used her head the propel himself up and grab the backpack after Chenle threw it. He ran over towards you and threw it. Right as your hand grabbed the strap, it was yanked away from you.

“Fuck!” You looked back at who had it now, seeing your backpack in the hands of the last person who should have it. You were about the run over to him, but the bullet that landed too close for comfort reminded you that you had to leave now. “Arachnid has it!” You’d just have to put your trust into the three that were already here.

“Got it,” Jeno bashed his knee into Vulture’s head, finally incapacitating the Follower and switched targets. You turned around and ran into the hallway. You just had to call one of the other members to run over here with some extra materials. You hit the side of your phone, which only frizzed at the motion. Chenle must have jammed the signals to prevent more reinforcements from coming, great. You couldn’t run around forever, Dead Shot always hit his targets in the end, you continued down the hallway, not bothering to look back, but when you found yourself cornered against a hallway, you forced to figure out a solution. With the smell of smoke and the sounds of bullets hitting the ground— Wait a second. You looked down the hallway, bullets hitting metal and ricocheting towards you but never hitting any intended destination, there wasn’t even a bullet hole in sight, instead there were just empty shells on the ground. But in your analysis you failed to notice the stray bullet that was right in front of you. Then you saw someone’s closed fist in front of you.

“Did I get all of them?” He panted. He opened his hand and twelve bullets fell out of it.

“Oh my god, Mark, you’re just in time, I don’t remember you being this fast either,” you caught your breath and hugged the speedster, separating quickly. Mark pat down the smoke on his boots.

“I don’t think I’ve ever run that fast…” He stretches his back and kicks the bullet shells aside.

“How’d you even get here?”

“The sorcerer guy called Baekhyun and asked us to come right away. I had a feeling it wasn’t anything good so I came first, told them I’d scout the area. It’s a good thing I came, otherwise you’d look like Sponge-Bob…” He laughs awkwardly. “You’re at your quota, aren’t you?” He looks down at your feet. You followed his gaze and saw the rusted knife sticking out from it, then you noticed the bloody trail you left behind. You sighed and pulled the old thing out.

“Remind me to get a Tetanus shot.”

“You are at your quota,” he gasped.

“Can’t afford to possibly die right now,” you shook your head. “I thought since the dimension was far enough it’d get me some leeway, but I guess not,” you grimaced.

“Shit, it really is a good thing that I came just in time,” Mark looks over his shoulder. “Dead Shot should be on his way, you didn’t make it hard to find you.”

“Don’t smart-mouth me right now, Mark.”

“Right, yeah, sorry about that,” the speedster ruffled his blue hair and unzipped his jacket, pulling out a book from it. It was heavy, no doubt, leather-bound with metal embellishments around it. The book had lived through as many eons as it did dimensions. You had asked Mark to try to get it for you if he could, but nothing more than that. Better to leave him in blissful ignorance. “Look, I don’t have a lot of time to say this,” he says while he hands it to you.

“Just spit it out.”

“I was looking into that thing you asked me about and here, this is all I got,” he says. “Whatever you need it for it’d better be important, I almost got turned into a frog for it. The guy I got it from warned me not to read it though.”

“Why?”

“I dunno, something about corrupting the person who reads it.”

“Oh shit, I should have Jeno read it then.”

“True, you can’t corrupt a demon.”

“But then again he is only half.”

“Look, (Y/N), I only got you the book because you were so insistent on it. Just reassure me and tell me that you won’t do anything stupid with it.”

“I won’t, I won’t, I may be stupid but I’m not that stupid, Mark. When are the others coming?”

“I just gave them the signal to enter, they’ll be taking care of the Follower problem here in a bit. But you’re going to have to explain why you’re here to them, and I’m afraid that it might involve you revealing your identities this time.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Why else would you be in D62 being housed and paid by this dimension’s Avengers?”

“Fair enough—” you were cut off by the bullet grazing your ear and landing in the wall behind you. Another one rang out and Mark grimaced, holding his hand to his shoulder

“Argh! Come on!” He grunts. He puts a hand on your back and one behind your neck.

“Why?”

“Whiplash,” you blinked and suddenly found yourself back in the Avenger’s Compound.

“Mark, don’t you dare!”

“Sorry! Jeno’s orders! I’d rather a pissed off you than Jeno!”

“Mark, I swear if you zoom out of here—” but the speedster was already gone by the time you turned around. “Dammit!” You kicked the wall and winced immediately, you completely forgot that it was the same foot that had a knife driven through it earlier.

He was right, you’d reached your quota. There was a certain amount of times you were allowed to “die” until it would be too much, and you knew you’d be at this quota when your body would stop healing itself, it was getting ready for its original host to return. You just didn't think you’d reach it soon, and who knows until the number resets? It was always a varying number, and until it did you had to lay low. It was such a hassle that you always tried to avoid it, but coming to this dimension seemed to have expedited the whole thing. You heard a bag of chips drop behind you.

“(Y/N)? When did you get here?” Jisung stared at you while he picked up the bag.

“Mark.”

“Mark’s here? Where?” Jisung looks around.

“There was a complication at Dr. Strange’s place,” you limped towards him, he rushed over to you and reached for your hand to help you, but you tugged it away. “I’m fine.”

“Oh, okay,” Jisung gave you a little more space, but still walked next to you, sporting that easy-to-read concern. “Do they need help?”

“No. The Avengers are coming.”

“Oh… oh no,” Jisung caught onto why you were being short now. “Oh no, oh no, we won’t have a choice then.”

“No, we won’t,” you heaved the large book under your arm. Jisung looked at it but chose not to question you. “I’ll be in my room, I have a lot of thinking to do before we explain ourselves to the lapdogs so, if you need me, I’ll be in there,” Jisung says.

“Oi, (Y/N)!” Haechan held his hand up and Jisung furiously shook his head. Hyuck pressed on regardless. “Think you need this,” he waved the small box in his hand and you did a doubletake.

“Where did you get that?!” You rushed forward and snatched it out of his hands. “Be a bit more gentle with it!”

“Whoa! What’s got you pissed? Jeno drowned and dropped this. Changmin said to give it to you so I figured it’s important, damn.”

“The Avengers are coming.”

“Like… these Avengers?” He points around the room. “Or our Avengers.”

“The second one,” Jisung nods. “Right, (Y/N)?” You didn’t answer, you were already halfway to your room. You tossed the book on your bed and you opened the small box, pulling the vial of iridescent liquid from it. You twisted it open and downed its limited contents in one gulp. You felt all of your muscles relax at once and you sat on the bed. The wound on your foot closed quickly.

“Postponed, at least for now,” you stretched your arms. “But not permanently,” you placed the vial back in the box and you grabbed the book. As you held the two sides in your hands, ready to open it, you recalled Mark’s warning. Then you remembered the words of the Demon King himself.

“If you know what’s good for you, and what’s good for the world you reside in. Do not seek more than you already know about yourself.”

The times you spoke to Jeno’s father were limited, and your best friend liked it that way, preferred it actually, but the times you did talk they were always pleasant. Save for that warning. He knew something you didn’t, the both of them. You acquired this book without any of their knowledge. For years you just went with it, there’s a quota for death, there’s a reason why you can’t die, there’s a reason why you should avoid stepping near the Seraph, but now in this new universe, you had to know. There was something calling out to you in this dimension, it was very faint, and you didn’t truly notice it until you walked into the Sanctum.

You put the book away, sliding it under the bed.

Trust is mutual, if two very powerful beings are telling you to stay in your lane you probably should. You knew the bare minimum of your condition, so to say, you knew what you had to. Die too many times too close together and something else will come and reclaim its host, and all you knew about that entity was that it was some eldritch creature that took a millennia to finally contain, and for some reason, it had some affinity for you. That is where your knowledge stopped and your curiosity began. What could be so powerful that even the all-powerful Demon King wanted to keep it contained, and what did it have to do with you? Your answers were under your bed. But you risked too much by simply opening the book on its own. You hit your head lightly on the wall behind you. The liquid in the vial would extend your quota by at most three, you had to use them carefully. If you were going to attract a horrific monster, it would probably be best to not do it in a world that you didn’t belong to.

There was a knock at your door.

“What do you want, Renjun?”

The door opened slowly, and someone else stood at it.

“Is now a bad time?” Stark asks. You shook your head.

“It’s your building, come in,” you sighed. He walked in at your invitation, sitting at the table to the side.

“So this is what S.H.I.E.L.D. meant by living accommodations,” he laughs.

“What did you need, Mr. Stark?”

“Tony’s fine, thanks,” he says. “Sorry, it was eating away at me, I had to ask.”

“You wanna know about what you’re like in my dimension, right?”

“I’d appreciate it, but, something tells me I should come back later.”

“Oh, no, no, it’s fine.”

“Where are your friends?”

“Probably getting their asses kicked, but I’m here instead,” you shrugged. “Honestly, you’re not that different. Maybe a little less depressed, but that’s about it. For what it counts, to our knowledge, you aren’t a Follower. You work closely with the Seraph, if they found out then you would’ve been executed on spot, at the very least.”

“Oh yeah? Crazy leader or rational one?”

“Bit of both,” you leaned forward on your bed, kicking the book further under your bed. “Want to know anything else?”

“I was wondering if you could walk me through your Traveler of yours, is it anything like Time Travel?”

“Let’s call it two sides of the same coin.”

“How so? What do you use? Cosmic strings? Möbius strip?”

“Have you heard of the infinite cylinder theory?”

“Also known as Tipler?

“Yes!”

“Then yes, I’m aware.”

“How about Schrödinger’s Equation?”

“We’re talking hamiltonian operators?”

“Bingo. If you can manipulate those two concepts, you can get time travel, but it’s not perfect. So manipulate them differently, add a few more concepts because you have to take relativity into account, and bam. Dimensional Travel.”

“That easy?”

“Yeah, well, no, but in theory sure.”

“And you never went to high school?”

“What’s that got to do with it? If you need a degree to prove you’re right then you’re probably not the sharpest tool in the shed,” you shrug. Tony opened his mouth to retaliate, but couldn’t think of a good comeback to that. “Something tells me you want to ask me something more specific though, Peter let slip that he’s been sending you updates, so I’m sure you’re here for a different reason.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why help us?”

“Don’t really know how to answer that one, Tony,” you placed your ankle on your opposite knee and rolled out your ankle. “Usually we just take whichever job pays the most, but Changmin asked us personally to take this one, so how could we say no? The guy rarely ever asks us favors, and it was the least we could do.”

“That simple?”

“What? Did you want me to say that we wanted to meet you guys? I mean, it’s certainly a plus. Most of your team happen to be carbon copies of the same one who wants to kill us, so there’s that, we’re observing the ways you act, maybe it’ll help us in the future, maybe not. It’s like a two-way deal, you get your Traveler, and we get data.”

“Data,” Tony scoffs. “I can see why you’d come to that conclusion.”

“What can I say? It’s helpful. But, I can definitely say that we might be relieved of our duties soon, we’re technically here illegally, I’ll have you know,” you said to him. “We’re supposed to get official approval from the Secretary of Travel before jumping dimensions, but we’re not exactly law followers so we never did. But now that an official government team is on their way, hoo boy, my greatest rival is yet to come. Paperwork,” you made light of what would otherwise be a very very bad situation.

“I heard, so we get to meet the other Avengers.”

“Yup. And, let me tell you right now, they’re not the nicest people.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, just you wait until I tell you about them.”

~

The shadow amalgamate shattered into what it once was, scurrying back to their original positions, once Chenle had the wind knocked out of him by Lynx. He landed harshly on Jaemin, who then lost his balance and sent the two tumbling down to the first floor of the Sanctum.

“Sorry,” Chenle rolled off the top of Jaemin.

“It’s fine, call it even for the incident with the banshee.”

“Agreed, ugh, my head’s doing cartwheels…”

“Cartwheels? I feel like mine is being churned,” Jaemin holds his head. Chenle and Jaemin lay next to each other for a moment, trying to stop their spinning heads when someone stood over them.

“Are we bothering you, gentlemen?”

“Ugh, these fuckers are here,” Jaemin covered his eyes with his arms. “Tell me when they’re gone, Apollo.”

“That’s kind of mean,” Mark frowns. Jaemin moves his hand.

“Mark’s not a bad person, actually, Tony. I feel bad because I encouraged him to join the Avengers when they asked, but the other guys saw it as a complete betrayal. But he’s loyal, he doesn’t hate us and we don’t hate him, or at least I don’t.”

“Oh look! The traitor!” He lazily points at him. “Do you know how much shit we’ve been through since you left?”

“All the dishes we’ve had to wash?”

“V won’t even let us take your room because she thinks you’re coming back! You dumb traitor, what happened to our friendship bracelets, Mark?! Huh?!”

“You guys, don’t call me that, come on! Look I’m still wearing it!” Mark whines.

“Go away! You left us for your cooler friends who can legally blow things up, go! Go have fun with them!” Chenle points an accusing finger towards the speedster.

“Just leave them there,” Mark whispers.

“We’re looking for Strange,” a deeper voice says.

“Oh my god, is that Wong Yukhei?” Jaemin asks, his blurred vision not helping him at all. “You know, Vendetta has a cardboard cutout of you, I think she talks to it sometimes,” he laughs, his words slightly slurred as a result of the head damage received when he fell on the hard floors in the first place.

“Flattered,” Yukhei responds.

“Wong Yukhei, decorated soldier from the order of war and the first in the super-soldier experiments. Actually not a bad guy, but feels the need to flex his bravado every now and then because of the team he’s on, and honestly, I kind of relate to that.”

“The hatless wizard is somewhere upstairs,” Chenle points up and lets his arm drop to his side. “We’d help, but you guys look like one big ugly walrus right now.” Jaemin starts cracking up and the two high five.

“Do we have to work with them?” Another voice snapped.

“Li Yongqin, Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, Lee Youngheum, he has too many names to remember so people usually just call him Ten. He was a perfect student in the military academies, which I’m guessing where his nickname comes from. But he’s pretty impatient, rather ill-tempered from my experience."

“We don’t have a choice,” a more suave on this time.

“Ooh, Lee Taemin. He's an interesting one, Tony. We’re actually pretty close, or used to be at least. He’s very good at what he does, he has years of experience under his belt, but it’s pretty scary. He’s probably done his research by now, be careful, he knows you better than you know yourself. Don’t argue.”

“Gentlemen, let’s end this, we have clearance from the Seraph to exterminate the Followers,” a more powerful one.

“Oh, oh, Lee Taeyong! He’s great. I’ve seen him work a couple of times, I think he’s shot me in the head before. Don’t ask. I have a great deal of respect for him, but he’s kind of anti-social, not easy to get along with him, but I think it’s all miscommunication in the end. I think if we really got to know each other we’d hit it off, but otherwise, I think I’m just a person with a bounty on her head in his eyes.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Jaemin pushed himself up, his eyes finally focusing. “Exterminate? Yeah, you guys do that, but let the Maverick leave first, we don’t want to get caught up in your deathmatch again,” Jaemin hits the side of his head a few times.

“Where’s the Vendetta?”

“Not here! She left because Reaper was being a little bitch!” Jaemin laughs again and Chenle joins him.

“We’re wasting our time here with these idiots,” another person says. Chenle squints his eyes to make out the figure.

“Now there’s Kim Jongin, he’s one of the people who started the Avengers project and got them all together. He’s an indispensable member, in my opinion. But when you’re in a team with that many star-studded members who are constantly in the public eye, it’s easy to get lost in the lights. But he knows how to keep things according to itinerary.”

“Who are you again?” He asks. “I thought the Avengers only had six members,” he stifles back a laugh.

“Dude that’s low!” Jaemin cackles. Mark swallows down a laugh when Taemin looks over at him, both of them trying to be respectful to their teammate.

“I know that’s why I said it!” Chenle hits his teammate’s arm and Jaemin winces, but the two continue in their little circus.

“Forget them, let’s just go,” Jongin. The team ascends the steps.

“Enter, the Avengers,” Baekhyun smiles.

“And finally there’s their leader. Byun Baekhyun— yes, he’s my older brother, no we don’t talk, and I don’t think he even knows I’m alive. He’s similar to you in some aspects, he pays for all of their shit. But he’s manipulative. He knows how to get into your head. Be careful with him.”

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[gemlinz]

Fulcrum ch. 1 - Meeting (Levi x f!Reader)

Summary: It was a cruel world, she knew. She also knew better than to ask for more than her lot: being a full time barmaid and a part time thief. She helped where she could, bitterly accepted where she could not. Feared the monsters lurking outside the walls.  But still - being near him, taking in his strength, his resolve - she couldn't help but hope for more. For herself. For him. For humanity. Warnings: Swearing, Blood

| CH 1 | CH 2 | CH 3 | CH 4 | Read on A03

As far as missions go, Levi supposed this one didn’t suck as bad as some of the ones he’d been on. 

He was covered in significantly less viscera for one.  For two...

Actually, watching his target seemingly vanish once again, he decided that was the only perk.  He had been chasing her for several blocks now. 

Frustration drove him as he hurdled a crate searching the area wildly for any sign that she’d been this way.  It was mostly luck he saw a flash of her disappear over the building at the end of the alley.  Gritting his teeth he launched himself onto the nearest fire escape to pursue.  Being covered in Titan guts was actually starting to look like the better option. 

As he heaved himself onto the ledge, he cursed Erwin and anyone involved in the idiotic decision that he couldn't use his 3DMG, spewing some bullshit about “proper permits”.  Fucking assholes - the precious pearl clutchers of Mitras could kiss his ass, this target was pissing him off.

Looking ahead, he saw her running full tilt across the rooftop, nimbly weaving through the chimneys littering her path.  Pausing only to unholster his gun, he once again began the chase.

The rooftop came to an abrupt end and he saw her flail a bit to catch herself from falling.  At four stories up, she wouldn't make the jump down without at least a broken ankle - even if she tried, he’d be able to apprehend her without much struggle.

Breathing more heavily than he would like, Levi leveled his gun, aiming for her legs.  Erwin said to incapacitate, not eliminate - as long as her dumbass didn't fall over from the impact, mission complete.  He could almost feel the hot bath waiting for him at home - it’d been awhile since he worked up this much of a sweat.

“Oi,” He commanded to her back,  “Stay the fuck put.  I’d be lying if I said I didn't want to shoot you - you’ve been a pain in my fucking ass.”

Weariness tensed her shoulders as she glanced back at him, eyes hard, before her whole person slumped in a sigh.  His grip tightened on the gun as she threw her hands in the air in an over exaggerated show of surrender before turning on her heel. Levi didn't buy it for a second.

Not taking his eyes off her, he continued to advance as he got his first real look.  Covered head to toe in form fitting black cloth, the only part of her that was visible was the top of her face, dominated by her E/C eyes - they were intense, but more importantly - she didn’t seem worried in the least.  Was she delusional? 

“Listen cunt, try anything and I will absolutely blow off your kneecaps.  I need you alive, not whole.” When she remained in the same position, he narrowed his eyes and slowly moved towards her. “On your knees. Now.”

In a split second her hands went from raised above her head to a mocking salute, and Levi pulled the trigger in a knee-jerk reaction.  The gun clicked, but there was no kickback.  No bullet, either.  

Levi could only chance a look at his gun before her fist, still clenched above her heart, propped up her middle finger in a different kind of salute. She leaned back before disappearing off the wall towards the ground below.

He threw the gun aside and charged after her, stopping abruptly at the edge.  Frantic coal eyes scoured below, before anger boiled low in his stomach - below was the city square, a crowd gathered that she’d be impossible to find in.

“Fuck!” His yell attracted a few glances up his way, but he paid them no mind as he walked back towards his defective gun.

Picking it up he inspected it more closely - something was obstructing the hammer.  Biting back another curse, he pried out a crumpled piece of paper.  Immediately he mentally retraced his steps - when did…

Then he remembered - walking down the street to his designated position when the mission began -

A quick yelp and then she was on the ground.  Levi was a bit startled himself - he didn't even see her, so caught up in his mental rant about bullshit policies regarding 3DMG in city limits.  Visibly though, his face remained as stoic as ever.

“You should watch where you’re going.”  He bit out, offering his hand to the prone woman.  She accepted his hand reluctantly and he pulled her up.  He must have misjudged his strength because she was sent careening into his chest before she straightened herself.  He steadied her, scowling.

“Sorry, t-thanks.”  She offered demurely, eyes not meeting his, before practically running away through the market.

The memory flooded back and he struggled to remember everything about her as possible but - there wasn't much.  H/C hair, about his height - that's it.  Fuck, that could be anyone.  

Fucking idiot he cursed himself and he could almost hear Kenny lecturing him to always be on guard, even in a city like Mitras.  He began his climb down the building.

Especially in a city like Mitras, where there was less dirt and grime than poorer cities, but twice as much backstabbing.  

The urge to punch something strong, he made his way back to the rendezvous place - he was never going to hear the end of this.

--------------------------------------------------

As she moved through the crowd, F/N did her best to level her breathing and ignore the throbbing in her ankle.  This was not how she expected her day to go - Peter said it was an easy score, no muss, no fuss.  

She wasn't expecting the Walls-damned Survey Corp to be on her ass.  She could only wonder at this new move by the MPs - she hadn't caused enough recent trouble for the “Humanities Strongest Soldier” type treatment.  If she hadn’t thought ahead, recognizing him earlier in the market...  Wincing, she tried her best to even her gait and made for home;  Louis would know what to do.

She fought every instinct telling her to just bolt; it would be a dead giveaway.  As it was, she stood out in her unusual garb - switching out her mask and hood for a cap and spectacles, both swiped from nearby stalls, was the best she could do until she got somewhere safer.  She navigated the streets, avoiding khaki jackets as best she could.

“Honestly, it's unthinkable,”  She heard a voice start from a pair of drunk women walking a few yards ahead of her, “If those dirty free loaders think they deserve anything, then they should go back out and fight for Wall Maria themselves.”  Her serious expression dropped as she drunkenly stumbled, her friend giggling at her clumsiness.

Fists clenched, F/N bit her tongue.  Walking through downtown Mitras was always a struggle;  she would never understand the inhumanity of Wall Sinas' ignorance.  She pushed on - now was not the time.

She took the scenic route. Pausing only briefly to glance imperceptibly for any potential pursuers, she eventually turned down the street that housed Louis’ Pub.  The lanterns were running on fumes at this time of night, and the street was quiet.  The people of Mitras may be abhorrent but this Pub was the only exception, was home. She felt the tension leave her shoulders as she neared and saw it not swarmed by MPs.  Or the Corp.

A little bit more pep in her step, F/N nudged the doors open with her shoulder as she took off the hat and glasses, tossing them onto the first table inside.  The bar looked recently closed, most tables cleared and wiped down, chairs stacked on top.

“Louis!”  She called to the doorway that led to the back, hearing her mentor moving around, “You will not believe the night I’ve had.  Any idea what I did to piss off the Survey Corp?  Had Captain Fucking Levi after me.  The runt almost had me - Do they seriously not have anything better to do?”  

Moving farther in, she leaned over the bar and grabbed a bottle, practiced hands flicking off the cap before taking a long swig. She savored the burn as she swallowed. When he didn’t round the corner to the main bar, she paused, bottle halfway to her lips, eyebrows furrowed.  What was he doing back there? 

“Louis?” She tried again. “Do you need he-”

Instinct was the only thing that saved her from the bullet, dropping to a crouch an instant before it flew by and lodged itself in the wall.  

“Tch.” 

In an instant, she was back on her feet, but wasn't quick enough to dodge the hand on her neck thrusting her face first into the bar counter.  She felt bone give before the pain blinded her.  

Now falling, she threw her hands in front of her to catch herself before the floor did, and was rewarded with a heavy knee into her unprotected abdomen.

This time she did hit the floor, hard.  Dazed and winded, she groaned and sluggishly moved to roll over but was stopped by a knee pressing painfully into her back, her arm pulled behind her.  Her shoulder strained under the force and she bit back a whimper.  Panicking, her free arm flailed, searching the ground for anything to defend herself with.  The cool glass of the now broken liquor bottle grazed her fingers and she strained to reach it.

Ice flooded her veins and she froze at the bite of cold steel suddenly pressed against her throat.

“Try it and you’re dead.”

E/C eyes widened at the familiar voice.

“H-how-” She bit back a yelp when he pulled her arm further back, kicking the broken glass away from her reach.  Only the feel of his blade pressed against her throat stopped her from struggling - she felt fear crawling up her chest as helplessness settled in.  

“How’d we find you?”  Levi finished for her, voice mocking “Your buddy told us you’d be back here.”

Her mind raced, trying to think of who the hell would even know to look for her here - Peter?  No.  Peter was a fickle idiot, but he doesn't know about the pub.  Could it be - as best she could, her eyes looked towards the open door to the back.  There's no way Louis missed the noise of this very one sided fight.

F/N was pulled out of her thoughts when Levi leaned over her, the movement putting more force into his hold on her.  She winced.

“If you even twitch,” He hissed into her ear, increasing the pressure on the blade at her neck, “I’ll slit your fucking throat.  Understand?”

He paused long enough that she realized he was looking for an answer.  She nodded fearfully and he shoved into her once more for good measure before the blade was removed and her free arm was pulled behind her as well.

She heard the clink of metal and a second later, cool iron at her wrists.  

Face throbbing with a broken nose and likely concussion, F/N could only allow herself to be hoisted into one of the bar’s chairs, hands shackled behind her.  

Trying to get a grasp on the situation, she blinked through the spots in her vision and tried to breathe around the blood filling her sinuses.  Footsteps sounded to her left but trying to loll her head in that direction resulted in a nausea that she had to shut her eyes and breathe through.

Granted, she wouldn't mind throwing up on this dicks’ shoes - but still.  Not dignified, and she didn't fancy getting her ass beat again.

A hand in her hair pulled her head back painfully.

“Try anything and I’ll break your legs.”  Was hissed in her ear as warning when she heard additional footsteps signaling the arrival of someone new.

“Levi.” A commanding voice sounded, cutting through her delirium.  Nothing more was said, but she heard an annoyed tsk, and her hair was released, allowing her head to roll forward.

“I said to go easy.”  The new voice chided after a heavy sigh.

“You didn't have to chase her through half the city.” Levi deadpanned, nonplussed.  “She’s lucky I didn’t just shoot her.”

Not for lack of trying , she thought bitterly, eyeing the bullet hole in the wall where her head had been moments prior.

A gentle touch on her arm startled her.  Squinting, she made out Louis' wrinkled face.  Pain splintered through her chest at the sight of him.  Louis looked the same as he always did, a much younger man stuck in an old man's body.  Only his white hair and shrunken frame gave away his age, he moved like a man 20 years his junior.  He was like a father to her - took her from Marie’s care and shaped her into something human .  Him selling her out was unfathomable, even as the evidence piled up.

“It’s ok F/N,” Louis said in his familiar soothing voice “Erwin’s a friend - please just listen to what he has to say...”

While she could only stare incredulously at her mentor, “Erwin” pulled up a chair in front of her.  Sitting down, he leaned forward, arms resting on his knees.  He seemed to be examining her and she felt like a specimen on one of the Military’s engineers tables;  she was being dissected.

Blood steadily leaking down her face, F/N’s gaze swiveled between her mentor and the blonde sitting across from her. Finally able to focus, the sight of his uniform was unmistakable.

Her head throbbed painfully and the reality of this betrayal finally hit.  White hot fury spurned her forward out of her seat, but she didn't get far - an iron hand on her shoulder shoved her forcefully back into the chair.  Once again, a blade was placed at her neck.

“Give me the excuse.”  Levi leaned in to speak from behind her.

Louis cast a cold gaze at him before turning to the seated newcomer. “Is this necessary?” He asked.

Erwin’s gaze hadn’t left her face.

“Yes, as unfortunate as it is.”  He started.  After searching her bloody face, he seemed to reach some conclusion and leaned back, casting a nod towards Levi at the same time.  The pressure of the blade left her throat, but F/N did not relax.  “She is still technically a criminal, and we cannot afford to be too trusting.” 

Her scoff was interrupted by a cough.  Spitting out the blood that had drained into her throat, her eyes turned to Erwin.

“You would say that, Military Dog.” She tried her best to hold his gaze but looked away.  His eyes weren’t filled with the same ignorant spite she was used to, and it confused her. But he still had his attack dog break her nose so - fuck him anyway.

Erwin only nodded.

“Yes, I do say that.  You’re still a thief, however noble your cause may be.”  

E/C eyes shot up to once again lock with his blue ones, confusion coloring her features. 

“You seem surprised.” He said as Louis moved to take a seat beside you both. “I’m very much aware of your motives, F/N L/N. To take from those who have too much and give to those who have-not.”

“If you’re so aware of my “noble” motives, why don’t you let me go?” She asked through gritted teeth.

Erwin hummed low in his throat.

“In an ideal world, I would.”  He crossed his arms, gaze falling above to the ceiling in thought. “But then again, in an ideal world, there wouldn't be any have-nots to steal for.”

He trailed off, staring at something in the distance.

“But I digress,” he sighed, eyes once again landing on hers, “It's not an ideal world, and here we are.  It was either us or the MPs that would have caught you, and they lack the vision we do.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She spat, mind reeling. The revelation his words brought was a stone in her stomach.

“It means we could use someone with your particular skills.”  His gaze was piecing, but her dazed-incredulity allowed her to stare back. 

F/N waited for the rest - for some kind of explanation to whatever the hell was happening, but when none came she cast her sights on Louis.

“Is this some kind of joke?”  She started, borderline hysterical, “Louis, please - tell me this is just you getting back at me for drinking from the top shelf.”

Louis’ gaze remained stoic, but still as gentle as she always remembered.  

“This isn’t a joke, F/N,” He began, running his hand over an old scratch in the bar table, “The Survey Corp needs our help.”

“The fuck they do!” She yelled in an uncharacteristic outburst, panic finally snapping something inside of her, “They’re backed by the government - which means they have fuck all to do with us, or anybody that doesn’t fit into their perfect society.  What could I possibly do for them that their pet fucking sociopath back here couldn’t?” She gestured behind her with a nod towards Levi, still standing sentinel at her back.  "Stop with this hero shtick and just turn me in already. There’s nowhere you can put me but in the ground that I wouldn’t eventually get out of .”

Louis nodded empathetically.

“I understand your hesitation.  But we’ve done jobs for them before-”  He held up his hand when she went to interrupt, “Even if you didn't know it at the time.”

At her confusion, he finished: “Just - hear him out, ok?  I promise, our goals align, and I won’t let anything happen to you.  I wouldn't have called them here if I didn’t trust him.”

Erwin watched the exchange and nodded along.

“Indeed.  If it wasn’t us, the Military Policy would have eventually caught up to you-”  

“And they would have a field day with a pretty young thing like you,” came from behind her, and she paled at the implication.

“Enough, Levi,” Erwin scolded, voice tired, “But he’s unfortunately not wrong - captivity under the Survey Corps supervision would certainly be preferable to other branches.”

“I-I’m,” F/N began, nerves fried, imagination running wild.  Swallowing, she continued. “I’m not joining the Corp, if that's what you're after.  I’d rather whatever faces me inside the walls than…”  She trailed off.

“Than Titans?” Levi supplied helpfully, though his voice held spite.

“Not all of us have a death wish, you suicidal little runt,” She craned her neck to look at him, fury and fear shining in her eyes.  “Or maybe you get off on watching your friends get ea-”

“Levi!”  Erwin shouted as the Captain started towards their captive, blade already in hand. “Enough.  Go wait for me out front.”

Levi stopped, but his brows furrowed at the command.

“Erwin, I don’t think-" He started, but was stopped by his Commander's sharp look.  Scoffing, he turned, slamming the door behind him as he left.

“Apologies, Captain Levi has more cause than most to hate Titans, and is still adjusting to his position.  I do not recommend antagonizing him.”  Erwin said.

“Noted.  I’m still not joining your suicide mission.”

Erwin sighed, shooting a glance at Louis that spoke more than F/N was unable to fully decipher.

“I’m not asking you to.”  He started, moving to remove something from his cloak, “In fact, the fact that you're not military is exactly what makes you perfect for this.”

He threw three stacks of bills onto the table to his right, each about a ½ inch thick.

“This is our sign-on offer - each job will warrant an additional fee, depending on it's difficulty.”

Y/N could only stare, slow to process his words.

“Seriously?  You want to hire me for a job?” She was incredulous, “And how are you going to explain that to your superiors, Mr. Military?” She asked, nodding towards the cash.

“More of a long term contract than a single job.  And we have funds designated to pay outside contractors.”

“Do you beat and shackle all your “outside contractors””?  F/N snarked.

Erwin's mouth quirked up.

“Only the particularly precocious ones.”

F/N gaped at his gall, making to speak. He held up his hand before she could start.

“Before you decide, I would like to be clear.  It is ultimately your decision, but if you refuse, we will hand you over to the military police for them to pursue whatever justice they see fit.”

F/Ns glare was heavy.

"Better get them over here then. I already told you I'm not fighting any Ti-"

"The jobs I need you to complete would take place inside the walls.  And if you're as good as they say, without any fighting at all."

At that she raised an eyebrow.

“What business could the Survey Corp have inside the walls, isn’t that the MPs jurisdiction?”  A beat when the thought came, “Did you get caught shacking up with someone's wife?  Need some good blackmail material to save your skin?”

“F/N.” Louis chided, but it had less impact on her than it would have a half hour ago before she knew he had sold her out.

Erwin didn’t seem phased, however.

“It’s ok Louis.  You're not far off, actually - how much do you know about the politics behind the military?”  He asked, blue eyes calculating.

She paused at that, thinking.  When she didn’t have a response, Erwin continued.

“I don’t blame you for not knowing - it's a closely guarded government secret.  The everyday citizen knowing about any infighting could inspire dissent, which, as I’m sure you can understand, would be disastrous for how secular our way of life is.  Because of this secrecy, some branches are allowed to pursue...less savory interests without recourse.”

F/N hummed, bored.

“So our shady government continues to be shady - what does that have to do with me?”

Erwin nodded, “I need ammunition if the Survey Corp is to survive in such an environment.  Fight fire with fire, so to speak.  As Louis indicated, you’ve already helped us.  Do you remember the document you were tasked with stealing from a Nicholas Lovof last year?” 

Her eyes shot to Louis accusingly.  Louis held up his hands in deference.  As far as she knew, that document was sold to an anonymous buyer on the black-market - she had no idea it was the military all long who was after it.

“Your efforts allowed us the funding needed to keep our soldiers alive, F/N.  And your work was impeccable - only the nature of the transaction tipped off my involvement to Lovof.”

As she continued to stare Louis down, Erwin continued.

“I’d like you to continue to help us.  But more importantly - help all of humanity.”

Sighing, tired E/C slid back over to Erwin as she visibly slumped.

“That's a pretty sales pitch you have there, but you’ll be just fine without me, Commander .  The refugees from Wall Maria, on the other hand, are starving as we speak.”

“Your methods of providing funds to feed the refugees are effective only in the short term, Ms. L/N.”  He countered, “With the Corp at full strength, we could take back Wall Maria.”

She sat up a bit straighter at that.

“Are you serious?  How is that even in the cards?”

“It's all hypothetical - but yes, one day the Corp hopes to reclaim what was taken from us.”  He leaned forward to deliver the final blow, “Like I said, our goals align.  Help me from outside the military, keep the Corp running, and the trodden and defeated can once again reclaim their old lives.”

F/N paused, trying to see the truth behind his bullshit, but she couldn’t disagree with him.  Taking back Wall Maria would help so many people.  Small heists here and there helped alleviate some of the bleeding - but this would be a huge win.

Slowly starting to nod, she faced Erwin once more.

“Ok - I don't disagree with you, Erwin .”  She said his name like a threat, reaching out to shake his hand.  The blondes eyes widened only fractionally.  He did not see her slip the cuffs.  “I’ll work for you, for now - but the second I see you cross over to the wrong side, to the side where gilded bullshit is worth more than human life, I’ll ruin you myself.”

His unnerving gaze never left her face, but he took her hand in a firm handshake.

“I look forward to working with you, Ms. L/N.  I know together we can do great things.”

[justanotherlifeff]

Levi Ackerman × reader

Genre: Angst, Hurt/comfort, Fluff, matured themes, slowburn

Warning: There's mentions and descriptions of underage rape and suicidal themes and self harm.

Your POV

The 57th expedition is two days from now and to make things worse, Hanji came over. She declared that as it is our only titan shifter's first expedition, we will be drinking tonight to celebrate. Although her motive was to experiment if Eren can get drunk, heichou strictly denied her requests since Eren is underage. I personally didn't want to drink because those men from when I was 5 were always drunk. "Drunk people are bad and dangerous" was a thought that was stuck into my head. Hence, I was planning to avoid their little party at all costs. It was morning at the moment and we were supposed to have breakfast. I made tea for everyone since I woke up before everyone else. I had already memorised how everyone had their tea, 2 spoons of sugar and milk in Oluo, Gunther and Petra's, 1 spoon sugar without any milk in Eld's, 3 spoons in mine and sugarless for Levi heichou. Eren didn't like tea. I had it all memorised because I tend to wake up before everyone else and thus, I always get the breakfast duty. I made pancakes for everyone and when I was done, I poured my tea in a cup and started reading the book. Every day, Levi would wake up early and sit with his own book and tea too. We would discuss the contents of the books when I go to clean his room. We would also share some of our personal issues to eachother and while I don't know how much it helps him, but it helped me ease up quite a but. Just as I was thinking these, he entered the dining hall as usual and took his cup which I had already filled with tea just the way he liked it. Eventually everyone else came around thus making it impossible to read because of the commotion. Hanji started blabbing about her experiments. Yes, she arrived yesterday and stayed the night in a spare room.

After breakfast, it was time for training. Levi heichou was giving me intensive 3DMG training recently since I already passed his strength trainings. We sparred more later, to test how much I had improved my strength and he won most of them due to his immense stamina which was impossible to match but I gave him a hard time though. In case of 3DMG, he decided that I wasn't making enough use of my agility and that I should be able to match his speed and accuracy. I was still learning his spinning move as I couldn't get a hang of that anyway. Today, we were supposed to have our last practice session as most of us will have hangovers the next day. Not me though. I'll just lock myself in mine and Petra's room. I've noticed by time that Petra tried to impress Levi heichou a lot. It kinda pissed me off because who even looks for emotional attachment when they might die anytime? And it's not like heichou was interested in her anyway. That's another thing I liked about him. He was serious about his career. I had always respected determination and I felt like there couldn't be a better mentor than him. However, something about it was bothering me. Levi heichou was making me feel things that I never felt before. It started with the way he looks during our training sessions, no, all the time honestly. I started having these urges to touch those muscles beneath his shirt, that showed slightly when he was sweaty after training, his clean shaven and extremely smooth looking cheeks and that extremely soft and silky looking hair. God knows how it would feel to run my fingers in there... Yes, that's exactly the problem. I shouldn't be thinking these. Things escalated when he convinced me to stop cutting myself, something even my parents couldn't do. It happened a week back.

One week ago

I was cleaning the floor in Levi's room while he was getting his paperwork done. "So, the protagonist is in a situation where he couldn't blame the antagonist as the antagonist had reasons to justify what they did too. It kinda resembles our world doesn’t it? I mean, titans don't have minds so, they can't really control what they are doing..." I was talking to heichou about the book I recently finished. "Hmm. However, one has to do what one needs right? The protagonist killed the antagonist at the end. It didn't matter if the antagonist had justification for what he did. It depends on who wins at the end. If the antagonist did, then the he would've been portrayed as the protagonist." heichou answered, not looking up from his paperworks. "Yeah. It's the weak who always loses." I muttered. "Not always. One can start off as weak but get stronger. That's what smart people who want to live do." Levi answered to that, before stopping for a moment and asking, "You mentioned that you want to live to make things right didn't you? What is the 'right' for you?". " I don't know, happiness? That's my goal." I answered. "Well, that's what we all want. Anyway, what's your plan to achieve that?" he asked. "I don't know, it started with getting strong enough to take care of myself but I don't really have an aim anymore." I answered, acknowledging it for the first time. "If you want happiness so much, why do you cut yourself? As much as I can recall, you told me, you did that to remind yourself that you're alive. If you don't have a plan, why remain alive at all?" he asked me, looking up from his paper works at me, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's true... I don't know what I'm doing to be honest... Being alive honestly is pointless." I muttered as an answer. It was the truth. I had no reason to live.

"Oi brat, take my advice on this, you're an extremely skilled soldier. You think I am itching to be alive? I have a goal to be happy too and the fastest way towards it is a bullet in my fucking head. But, there's also another way, that is using my strength to do something for humanity, getting this war over for good and opening up a tea shop. My plan in this case is to stay alive and keep fighting. I suggest you to have the same plan. When this war is over if you are still alive, these people you saved will make a way for you. And trust me, cutting yourself won't help you at all because that only limits your agility as, trust me, I've got into enough fights to know how much every single cut hurts. It may not affect your performance by a lot but a mimimum percentage of performance issues can get you killed in expeditions. So I suggest you to stop with that shit and get your priorities straight." heichou advised me with a straight face. "So, you suggest me to try my best to survive? If I can get through this war, then the people will help me make a way?" I asked before pausing for a moment and stating, "I honestly didn't join the survey corps to make some dead people proud of me. I just wanted to die I guess..."."Well then, you're at an advantage both ways. If you die, you get to your goal. If you live, you get to your goal in long term too." he answered.

"Heichou, why did you join the survey corps?" I asked him out of curiosity. "Well, Erwin blackmailed me into it at the begining but later, I decided that my life was meaningless too and decided to do exactly what I advised you to do." he answered. He was right. If I survive, after the war with titans are over and the survey corps are disbanded, I'm sure they will give us all a way to live. However, will I always be alone? What's the point of living like that? No, wait, Uncle Erwin will be there... He's as good as family, so I'll be fine. Atleast as long as he lives. Maybe I'll even consider marriage... There are so many possibilities... Heichou was right. I had to survive or die in combat. Its good both ways. "(Y/N), if you really want to remember that you're alive at times, instead of cutting yourself, remember your interactions with your comrades. I'm sure you made an impact on a lot of them and you wouldn't be able to do that if you weren't alive." Levi ended his statement with that as I was leaving his room after cleaning. "Yes heichou. Thank you for the advice" I answered before leaving. An affect on my comrades, did he mean the way I intimidated them? But doesn't that mean that I'm an emotionless piece of shit? Or was he talking about my conversations with him? Did... Did I make him feel alive? Because, even if I hated to admit it, he made me feel alive. I felt like I didn’t have to hurt myself anymore.

Present day

Levi heichou beat me this time as well after we sparred for 30 minutes. No one lasts that long against him. During the 3DMG session, everything was going well until suddenly captain Levi attacked me. He came out of nowhere and tried to cut me but I instinctively dodged and tried to escape him. I was shocked as I didn't expect something like that. He was as fast as I am in 3DMG and with his special techniques, he was faster. He slashed his blade against me again and to block it I used my own blade but the blade broke. I was scared that he might kill me and that's when he told me that he was testing how well I'd do in unexpected situations and he definitely wasn't satisfied with my skills.

Levi POV

She was pretty good at running away but she used one blade at the wrong angle when I slashed my blade at her. Ofcourse she didnt learn about what angle to use because Shadis didn't know some of the tricks I learnt underground. However I expected her to use two blades. That's just common sense and the fact that she panicked in a situation like this is unacceptable for someone as skilled as her. She has a lot if potential but stupid decisions like that will get her killed. "Do you have a brain of the size of a pea brat? Anyone with common sense would use two blades. Are you trying to get killed in any unexpected circumstance? " I shouted at her. She kept a straight face but I could see the embarrassment in her eyes. Serves her right. "Sorry heichou. It won't happen again" she said with determination. I'm not usually too hard on her because she doesn't disappoint me often so I let it go. I taught her the angles she should use. It would make her blades last longer. She practiced with complete determination but failed to get the spinning move done. Honestly, no one I trained was able to do that, so, I didn’t judge her. However, she wasn't the one to give up. I respected that about her as a mentor. It was time for lunch and Petra already cooked stew. We had lunch and I saw her head upstairs and come down with her 3DMG and blades. "Oi where are you going?" I asked her. "To practice the blade angle and the movements you taught me. I want to be able to get the spinning move perfected." she answered, saluted and left. I didn't expect her to be able to do it.

I went to my office to complete some paperwork and after about 2 hours, I heard the sound of her falling down with a thump and occasionally, frustrated cursing. I went to the window and saw (Y/N) falling on her face every time she tried but getting up to do the same nonetheless. "Damn, this girl will kill herself at this rate." I thought and felt a bit proud about being her mentor. I looked at her graceful moves through the air, which turned into a complete disaster whenever she tried to use the spinning move on the titan dummy. "There must be some problem with her balancing" I thought. I found her beautiful the day I first saw her. "Just another pretty face that's gonna be titan food" I thought. After she sparred with me and sat on my face, I think I blushed for the first time ever in my entire life. I didn't let anyone see though because it's inappropriate. Now that I see her potential and determination, she seems to be more than just another pretty face. She is what I'd call beautiful. I knew she deserved a normal life and yet she chose this uncertain life where death my come and where its impossible to have a family. She is a very brave person. I know some stuff about her past. How she was rescued from a brothel before being sold off in the underground. How she killed a Garrison member but was let out because she was a minor. I was curious about her given that I was from the underground too. As these thoughts plagued my mind, I suddenly understood exactly what was causing the problems with the balancing.

"Oi brat. Get down here." I called (Y/N) out, who was sitting on a tree, about to do the spinning move again. When she got down, I noticed that she got some minor cuts on her face. Atleast her instincts were good enough to make her use her hands to prevent her face from getting hit. "Yes heichou?" she asked, confused. "I have a fair idea about why you can't get that move done. Your body proportions are what's causing this." I told her with a calm voice even if talking about it made me uncomfortable. "I don't understand..." she muttered, clearly confused. "Your breasts are what's causing the issues. My body structure allows me to distribute all my weight at the correct points but as your body structure is different, the distribution gets disoriented as your breasts are the weights that make you slouch forward easily." I explained as calmly as possible. This was awkward. I saw a blush slowly creep upon (Y/N)'s cheeks as she muttered, "But they aren't too big...". " Well, the simplest errors can make it impossible to master this move. I'm not sure if you can do it but try using bandages to bind you chest and make the surface as flat as possible." I answered with a stoic expression, which was very hard to bring given that I have never talked to cadets about their breasts, and the fact that this particular cadet made me want to rip her clothes off didn't help at all. "Hai!" (Y/N) answered before running off towards the castle.

She actually did it. It didn't take any effort at all. I was right about the problems with body proportions. You came back after a while with an almost flat chest. It didn't look comfortable at all because she looked like someone punched her on the face. I, however, was impressed by her determination. And, the fact that she was able to get the spinning move done at one try. Ofcourse, it wasn't perfect, it had many flaws, but, it was an amazing feat as no one else was able to get this done. However, I knew that this wouldn't work well with her because being uncomfortable on an expedition isn't an option. "Oi, get down" I commaded her as she got down from the tree, pleased with herself. "Yes heichou?" she asked. "You won't be using this move. You're not feeling comfortable in bandages and that's as obvious as it can get. Just make use of the speed training we went through." I advised her. "Yes heichou!" she answered and as she was going off towards the castle, I spoke up, "Oi (Y/N)! You did well.". "Thank you heichou" she answered, giving me a rare smile. She really should smile more often.

Your POV

I came back being pleased with myself after getting a rare compliment from Levi heichou. After some very intense and not to mention, painful training for 2 hours 30 minutes that compliment probably was the best gift anyone could possibly ask for. I went back to Petra and my room to find Petra sleeping. I took a shower and went to take a nap. I was asleep but I was woken by feeling someone drag me out of the bed. I woke up and saw Hanji dragging me out. I tried to get out of her grab but Petra and Eren also held me firmly. I could've gotten away from Hanji easily but I couldn't fight with three people grabbing onto me. They brought me downstairs and Levi heichou was there too with a glass of alcohol in his hand. I was shocked to find him here and looked at Hanji and she explained that she dragged heichou out here so that he won't drink alone in his room, in Hanji's words, like a sad excuse of a human. Apparently he drank alone before expeditions. No matter how hard I tried to avoid drinking, Hanji was relentless. I had to drink a few sips of alcohol. As the alcohol started kicking in, Hanji convinced heichou to have a drinking contest. I had to admit that the alcohol made me feel light headed and more confident. I liked the feeling despite the horrible taste which is why I drank a bit more than I planned to. Then I remembered that my body weight was not enough to take it all but my head started spinning by then and I was slipping on and off my consciousness.

Levi POV

Hanji thought that she would win because she was taller but she didn't know about my high alcohol tolerance. After an entire bottle, Hanji was done. It seemed that she had lower alcohol tolerance than I imagined. I had one more glass and I won naturally. I was pretty drunk and thought it's best to go to bed. Before I got up, (Y/N) puked. Everyone was a bit surprised as they didn't notice her taking on two glasses like an idiot. Since no one was sober enough to get her up to her room, I knew I had to do it "Tch! They had to get wasted now." Eren was already sleeping as he wasn't allowed to drink. "Ofcourse she puked. She didn't come down for dinner" I remembered. "Petra, get Eren to clean this mess up. I'm taking her upstairs and you're coming with me to clean her up" I stated with authority to a tipsy Petra. I took her to the bathroom in their room and made her sit on the floor. She was barely conscious. I waited outside for Petra to be done washing and dressing her so that I can pick her and put her to bed. Petra called me when she was done. I picked (Y/N) up and put her to bed while Petra was washing her clothes.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Your past will be explained now. It includes rape and underage sexual acts and, well, some seriously nasty stuff so don't read if it bothers you. Skip to the next chapter in that case.

"Heichou?" she called out weakly before I left. "What brat?" I asked keeping my usual bored face. "The first day we met, didn't you call me a privileged brat? How does it feel to know that the only thing your prostitute mother told you is that you're born to do exactly what she does? How does it feel when those men do things to your mother and all you can do is sit in the room and read a book to pretend nothing is happening? How does it feel when those drunk men touch you, do things that they did to your mother and hurt you like your body is splitting? How does it feel to know that your mother left you to these people and that you'll never see her again? How does it feel to be hit and cut by these men? How does it feel not being given water unless you drink the semen of those people? How does it feel when you gladly do it because you are so thirsty? You don't know anything about the life I had, heichou. When they told me I'm safe after taking me out of that horrible place, I believed them and I regret it because that man I killed wanted to do the same things I went through in that hell. He told me that I shouldn't mind because he assumed I enjoyed these back then. I enjoyed slitting his throat and gauging his eyes out. You knew nothing heichou " she said, her voice cracking as tears left her eyes. I looked at her, shocked by her sudden confession. I had no idea that she still remembered what I told her that day. I had no idea it hurted her feelings to that extent. Besides, as much as I knew, she never said anything about herself to the court or to anyone. As much as I knew, she didn't talk in her court case about murdering that man. She only did it for self defense. I looked at the weeping girl. She was a brave soldier and seeing her break down like that made me feel things I didn’t quite understand. It made me do something that I never did for anyone before. I sat on the edge of her bed, took her hand and said "Now you know how to fight. No one can hurt you now. You can trust yourself and if you want, you can trust me. I'm sorry about my behaviour that day. I shouldn't have judged you without taking a closer look." She gave me a shocked look after I said that. I gave her a small smile, and left the room. This was the first time I smiled after years.

To be continued

Taglist: @kingtamakimurder, @realityisoftendisapointing

[choiceswreckedme]

Adience

This started as an entry for @choicesnovemberchallenge Day 13: Alcohol, then morphed into maybe an entry for Day 14: Love, but eventually became something entirely different.

If you can’t tell, I’ve been replaying Open Heart and I am deeply in my feelings about Ethan Ramsey right now.

Because I don’t have an actual tag list and I literally just went through my followers and picked some people I thought might like this: @debramcg1106 @burnsoslow @cora-nova @dr-ethanjramsey @darley1101 @rookie-ramsey(sorry if my assumption was incorrect!)

Donahue’s was packed full by the time Reese walked in the door. Bodies stood shoulder-to-shoulder, blocking her way as she craned her neck to try and find her friends in their usual booth. Her shift had gone nearly two hours over when Dr. Ramsey had cornered her to discuss lab findings on a patient who’d been admitted earlier in the day. He’d berated her, pressing her to find answers that she just couldn’t see, throwing her standing in the intern competition in her face. Resse thought that after Miami, things might be different, but instead he seemed determined to double down on his gruff, cold persona. 

Now, trying to maneuver her way through the crowd, Reese contemplated just turning around and going home. She wanted to get mind blowingly drunk, but this scene might just be too much after her encounter with Ramsey. Her nerves were frayed, her body ached, and she just wanted to forget everything for the night.

Turning and making her way back to the door, Reese kept her head down and began fighting the crowd she’d just struggled through, taking maybe ten steps before plowing into someone’s chest.

“Oh shit –” she gasped, staggering back. A pair of strong hands gripped her upper arms, preventing her from falling. Looking up, Reese was dismayed to see Ethan standing before her, his sapphire gaze potent as he scanned her face. “Sorry, Dr. Ramsey,” she muttered, shrugging her shoulders so he would release her, then stepping to the side to continue on her way. 

“Rook - Reese,” Ethan corrected himself, the burn in his chest intensifying at the sight of the woman in front of him. He had been doing everything in his power to forget about the kiss they shared in Miami: working late, pouring over case studies in the hopes of finding something substantial that could help Naveen, running miles upon miles on the treadmill in his building’s gym, just so he could push all thoughts of Reese away. Nothing, however, could burn away the memory of her lips on his, the taste of her tongue as it wound around his own, the breathy moans and sighs that made his dick hard and his balls ache. 

He’d somehow pushed her away that night, but it had taken all his strength to keep her at arm’s length since then, especially tonight when her cheeks had burnt with frustration, as the fiery glint in her green eyes raked over his face as he countered every solution she presented with another problem. He’d wanted to pull her to him, to claim her lips, her body, every inch of her as his. Another bullet dodged when she stormed out of his office, Ethan knew the best way to keep her away was to make sure she was always furious with him. As much as he wanted to praise her, to collaborate with her on cases, to tell her how much he appreciated her drive and passion for helping patients, he had to settle for being an unfeeling asshole. 

“What is it, Ethan? I have a date with a bottle of wine so I can forget this fucking day,” Reese snapped. 

“Why are you leaving, then?” He tilted his head toward the worn door to Donahue’s. She shrugged, flicking her eyes to the side, her blond ponytail flipping over her shoulder. Ethan wondered what she would do if he wrapped his fist around her silky locks and crashed his lips to hers. Probably knee him in the balls. 

“It’s busy. I didn’t feel like dealing with the crowd,” she explained listlessly. “Look, Ethan, this has been great, but I can’t do this with you tonight.” Reese hated how deeply he affected her when he could so quickly dismiss whatever had been blossoming between them. Her eyes filled with tears, partly from exhaustion and partly from heartache, and she swiped angrily at them. 

“Reese, I –” Ethan didn’t know what to say to make things between them better, but he would do anything to erase the pain so clearly written on her face. He knew he couldn’t give her what she deserved - everything - but he could help her with one thing. 

“Let’s go somewhere else,” he offered, shrugging. “You shouldn’t drink alone.”

Reese scoffed incredulously. “Since when do you care if I’m alone? I thought that’s exactly how you wanted me.”

“Jesus, Reese!” Ethan ran a hand through his thick, chestnut hair. “Can’t you just – can’t we –” he let his arms fall to his side, unable to find the words. He looked at her, eyes pleading to accept his offer.

Reese swallowed thickly. As angry as she was, she wanted to be with Ethan. Wanted to sit next to him and have a glass of wine, wanted to talk about their patients and their findings, to bounce ideas off one another like they had been for months. Trouble was, she also wanted to go home with him afterward, remove his clothes piece by piece, kiss each inch of his muscled body as it was revealed. And she was tired of fighting all those feelings.

“Fine,” she acquiesced. “I’ll have a drink with you.”

Ethan’s rare smile lit up his face, his emotions taking over before he could tamp them down. He gently placed a hand against her lower back and steered them out into the chilly Boston night. Once outside, he reluctantly let her go, jamming his hand in his pocket to keep from reaching out and lacing his fingers with hers. 

The pair walked silently down the street in the opposite direction of Donahue’s. Passing the bright lights of Edenbrook, Reese gazed contemplatively at the tall building.

“I don’t think I’m cut out for this,” she admitted aloud, tears once again clouding her vision. Her entire life she’d been dreaming about this opportunity, but now that she had it, she felt like an imposter. She sniffled quietly, keeping her face turned from Ethan’s view. Her feet carried her past the hospital and she waited for him to voice his agreement. 

Reese’s words stopped Ethan in his tracks. Reaching out, he pulled her back and turned her to face him. Tears tracked down her cheeks, rosy from the cold, and before he could stop himself his hands came up and tenderly brushed the wetness away. 

“I told you I saw something in you, and I meant it,” he stated firmly. “You have the potential to be an amazing doctor. You have talent every single one of those interns would kill for.” Ethan cradled her face in his hands, the words pouring forth before he could stop them.

“I find you to be the most inspiring, intelligent, beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Do you know how it kills me to see you every day and not be able to tell you that? I don’t know why you can’t see what I see, what everyone in that hospital can see,” he shook his head in wonder. “You are incredible, Reese, and I –”

He broke off, unable to admit the words he knew were true. He was her attending, and for her sake he needed to stay away from her. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, jeopardize her career by putting her in a position where her talents could be questioned. Summoning all his will, Ethan took a step back, his hands falling away from her beautiful face.

“I think maybe I should walk you to the train,” he said, frustration making him terse. Reese blinked at him, thrown off balance by his rapidly shifting demeanor. 

“Okay … Ethan what’s wrong? Did I do something?” The small tremor in her voice nearly broke him. If only he could tell her what it was that she’d done to him - that she’d stolen his heart. 

He turned away, huffing unconvincingly. “Of course not. I just don’t think you give yourself enough credit. And,” he lied, “the bar I was thinking of going to is already closed. I just remembered.” 

Reese hurried to keep up with Ethan has he strode quickly toward the subway station near the hospital, her head spinning. This back and forth with him was going to ruin her if she let it. She stared at his back as he walked ahead of her and made a decision. She was done. 

The station was nearly empty when they reached the gate. Ethan turned to Reese and shoved his hands in his pockets, waiting for her to make the first move.

Wind whipping her hair around her face, Reese locked eyes with Ethan. If she was giving up on him, he deserved to know it. 

“What were you going to say earlier,” she asked, “when we were outside Edenbrook?” He started to turn his head but she reached up and grasped his chin, forcing him to look at her. He stood there, unmoving, Reese’s fingers cold on his face. “Answer me, Ethan. Tell me how you feel,” she pleaded. “If you won’t say it, I don’t think I can do this anymore.”

His heart raced at her admission. This was what he wanted, for her to flourish as a doctor under his tutelage, unencumbered by a romantic entanglement. He was trying to protect her, but all he was doing was hurting them both. Anger at himself, at the situation, at the damned world, rose in his gut.

“You want to know how I feel, Reese?” His voice carried through the still air, words tinged with desperation. “All I’ve wanted to do for the last five months is tell you how I feel! But I’m trying to protect you!” He broke off, chest heaving, unable to deny his feelings any longer.

Reese stared up at him, heart pounding. They were on the precipice of something and whatever Ethan said next would decide whether they fell or faltered. 

“God damn it!” Ethan cried, shoving his hands in his hair as he walked away. Almost immediately, he doubled back to where she stood. “I can’t stay away from you,” he groaned, burying his fingers in her thick blond hair. He wrapped his other arm around her waist and crushed her body against his, his mouth covering hers.

Reese immediately responded to Ethan’s kiss, her tongue plunging into his mouth and twisting with his. Teeth clashed and bit, each of them trying to get closer to the other, months of pent-up feelings coming out in a frantic rush. His hands moved down to palm her ass, lifting her with ease so she could feel his excitement pressing against her mound. 

“God, Reese, I’ve wanted this for so long,” Ethan mumbled against her skin, pressing kisses down the creamy column of her throat. “I want you … I need you …” 

She threw her head back, lost in the sensation of Ethan and completely oblivious to the fact that they were in public. She ground her pelvis against the thick ridge of his cock, making him moan ferally. 

“Oh fuck, Reese … let me take you home,” Ethan groaned, anchoring her against him. 

“Yes, god, please,” she replied breathlessly. Ethan gripped her around the waist and quickly let her down. He grabbed her hand and pulled her along, rushing to the lot where his car was parked. Letting her go to deposit her in the passenger seat, Ethan hurried around to the driver’s side, sitting down and starting the car in one smooth maneuver.

The ride to Ethan’s condo was silent. Reese was afraid anything she said would make Ethan change his mind, and she’d been waiting for this very moment for months. She twisted her fingers together in her lap, nerves nearly consuming her as she thought about what lay ahead. 

Ethan gripped the steering wheel and willed himself to calm down. He had made his decision; there was no going back. No, tonight they were going to make this real, consequences be damned. 

Tonight, he was going to claim her body just as she’d claimed his heart. 

[buckitybarnes]

You and I [Bucky x Reader] ONESHOT

Summary: Bucky hasn’t seen you in ages, and watching you march along with the enemy sends a sickening feeling to his stomach. 

Warnings/Themes: Angst, fluff, humor, profanity, blood/mild gore.

Author’s Note: Has not been checked for spelling/fluency errors bc hi I’m your local lazy sometimes-writer. The song is ‘You and I’ by Barns Courtney and it’s been stuck in my head forever. God, I love it so much. pls listen

Last Chapter

--

He hasn’t seen you in three months.

Three long months that felt like years and years.

That’s just how it is. When you’re not with someone you love, time just slows and the sun takes its time setting each day.

He misses you, that much can be said.

He wonders if, when you see him, will you recognize his bearded face? His tired blue eyes?

His lonely smile?

He slips the blade of his knife out of an enemy sentry, wiping it clean of blood before sheathing it. His face is dimly lit by the torch hung inside the underground entrance. His blood-speckled cheek shines under the glow, as his eyes dart around in search for more.

With one quick glance at the dead body, he urges himself to move forward, lips pursed into a thin line.

He hasn’t seen you in three months. No words have been exchanged on either side.

What if you had met the same fate as that man back there?

His stomach churns as he stealthily moves on. Taking in deep, calming breaths, he rehearses a song in his head. The very last one he heard when you were around. It was the day since you ran off. You’d been singing it in the kitchen, twirling and mimicking the deep voice.

Bucky has taken this song and has committed it to memory. It was the last happy memory he had of you.

-

Suitcase in your hand Wave goodbye to mom and dad Never thought I would see the back of you

Mixtape's wearing down Crystal ships are sailing out Now the doors are opening for you...

-

He hears the sound of marching. It had to have been about twenty or more soldiers. Someone shouts a phrase in Russian and the army parrots it back.

He holds his breath and peers in from around the corner.

Just as predicted, the bunker is full of people. Half of them are training on dummies. The other half is running through a battle formation in the dead center.

Bucky can’t take them all out on his own.

Then again, he didn’t come to do so. He just wanted to see you. To get you back.

You didn’t belong in this hell house -- with these scrappy, dirty dogs.

He almost doesn’t see you, almost wants to throw up thinking that you weren’t here with the rest of them.

But then he spots your familiar form, slightly leaner than normal, but not malnourished enough to blend in with these soldiers. When they all do a 90-degree turn to the right, he sees your eyes, so dead and cold.

So unlike you.

He bites his bottom lip to keep from calling out for you. Instead, he decides to observe and find a better way to extract you.

-

I wanna swim, swim out into the dark night I wanna melt you down into the stars I wanna crumble, dumble like a landslide I wanna live, die wherever you are...

-

“planovaya proverka,” the leader shouts.

Like robots, the marching troop forms two long lines. You end up on the left, side-by-side with a big burly man. There’s only a pair of people in front of you.

Routine Inspection, Bucky translates. The hell does that mean? He can only imagine…

Aggressively, the leader slams his foot down. In clean, unbroken English, he speaks. “Step up and begin.”

Within a split second, a lady in front of you whips around to her partnered teammate and throws herself clumsily at him. Her weight slams against him, causing him to stumble back. He grunts in discomfort but recovers quickly enough to catch her incoming punch. Holding her by her fist, he twists it. The crack of bone echoes throughout the room.

Supersoldiers.

And they’re playing dirty to impress the commander.

The woman growls ferally, almost unfazed by the pain. She plants her foot on his chest and thrusts him back, but he keeps his hold, pulling her forward. They wrestle like two animals, scratching, kicking, doing anything to gain the upper hand. And when they’re both left a bloodied mess, the leader smirks.

“One of you showed great potential.” He points to the man. “Powerful moves -- not pitiful like hers. This isn’t a cat fight.” He glares down at the woman soldier, who, despite having been calm this whole session, is now breaking out into a sweat. “We don’t allow pieces of shit to live.”

“Please,” she chokes out, stumbling to her knees and bowing desperately. “N-no I’m -- I can do better.”

“So can they,” the commander states coldly. “A lot fuckin’ better.”

Without another word, she’s whacked in the head by the handle of a rifle. One of the guards pulls her groaning form up by the collar of her uniform and drags her out.

On the way, a scared, blood-curdling scream tears through her.

Bucky winces, but when he looks to you, he sees absolutely nothing.

No emotion.

Cold dead eyes.

“Next.”

And Bucky’s heart drops out of his chest when he sees you step forward with the large man.

He knows you can take a beating, can reciprocate and overpower, but it’s no less sickening to watch. Part of him wants to rush in, guns blazing. The other part knows that it would only get you both killed.

“Begin.”

Immediately, you dodge an incoming attack. In fact, you’re stubbornly defensive, blocking and dodging at lightning speed while your enemy tries to bash you like a bull. The fight is a complete opposite of the previous. Instead of two clumsy oafs fighting each other, this one is more tactical and thought out on one end.

He’s a supersoldier. You’re not.

Bucky realizes that you’re trying to use agility over brute force, tire him out at least a fraction before going in for the kill.

‘That’s my girl,’ he thinks, smiling proudly.

It goes on for another ten minutes until the commander grows restless. “That’s enough bullshitting,” he snaps at you. “Finish him off.”

Neither of you backs down, and you continue dodging against the leader’s demands. Finally, your face breaks out into a weak smile. You fail to deflect this man’s next attack and his fist slams into your gut, knocking the air out of your lungs and sending you crashing into the ground a few feet away.

Bucky breaks out into a sweat.

The commander scoffs. “What the hell happened to you?” he asks. “You lost your touch.”

Forcing oxygen back into your lungs, you remain on the ground, staring up at the commander with a twinkle of amusement in your eyes. “Whoops. My bad?”

It’s the most emotion you’ve given Bucky throughout this whole fight.

“You’ve still got that little attitude of yours,” the commander sneers, eyes full of hate and disgust. “I see breaking your finger and stabbing you in the hand didn’t do much.”

“Baby shit,” you retort, grunting when one of the guards pulls you up by the hair forces you onto your knees. The barrel of his gun presses against the back of your head. Still, you smile. “And I’m your strongest asset, I know you can’t kill me.”

Bucky fumbles with his comms, turning it on and tapping a code to call in reinforcements. He doesn’t care if he compromises your mission. He wants you out. Now.

The leader freezes for a moment before rage floods his features. You saw right through him, and he was not happy. He needed you, needed you to fight for his side because you were right. You were his strongest soldier.

So instead of killing you on the spot, he decides to make an example.

The guard keeps you held in place while the commander steps down from his platform.

Without a moment to spare, he tilts your chin up with one hand while the other balls into a fist. “You mouthy bitch.” Your eyes screw shut, waiting for the impact.

Until a song blares through the sound system, the one that was used for announcements and emergency protocols.

-

Lovesick melody, carry my words across the sea Tell her I miss her, tell her I'm torn in two Salt burns in my eyes, none of these streets feel right tonight I'll be your Robin, you'll be my baby blue….

-

He pauses in absolute confusion before a wholehearted laugh escapes your lips.

“What the hell is this?” he shouts.

-

I wanna swim, swim deep into the dark night I wanna melt you down into the stars I wanna crumble, dumble like a landslide I wanna live, die wherever you are

I would flag down any motorist I'd run the whole damn fight For you and I, you and I, you and I...

-

“Your downfall, sir,” you reply bittersweetly.

The pressure on your head lifts when a gunshot echoes across the room. The sentry behind you falls, a bullet between his eyes.

One of your comrades loads his rifle back up, and this time aims for the commander himself. He doesn’t even get the chance to speak, as a bullet embeds itself into his skull.

Chaos breaks out in the bunker.

People turn on each other, suddenly realizing they had traitors in their group.

You break out into a sprint, going for a gun from the man you had just been in a brawl with. He holds it out to you as he shoots others with his Glock.

Bucky doesn’t waste time, he loads up his own gun and shoots anyone in your path. He doesn’t know who’s good or who’s bad, but he goes for anyone that’s running after you.

And when you finally accept the weapon from your comrade, Bucky makes his way into the battlefield, dodging bullets and bodies as he approaches.

“Sorry ‘bout the punch, lass,” the man shouts over the screams of the damned.

You roll your eyes, covering his back while he covers yours. “You punch your momma with that fist, Riley? I’ve met bigger supersoldiers than you.” He lets out a belly laugh and shoots a woman running in your direction. When he sees Bucky, he aims for him too.

That is until he calls out your name.

You’ve run out of bullets and decide to use your knife instead. You slit open an enemy’s throat, their blood spraying and hitting you just slightly across the face. When you turn to see Bucky, your heart thrums against your chest. “This isn’t as sexy of a reuinion as I wanted it to be,” be you mutter dumbly.

Someone rushes after you from behind but Bucky’s faster to shoot.

As soon as their body falls, you snap out of your stupor and stand your ground.

“No, that was absolutely fuckin’ sexy,” he calls back, keeping his back against yours.

You, Bucky and Riley all form a triangle with your backs against each other as you take out enemies one by one.

“So this is the boyfriend I’ve been hearing about,” Riley jokes, his finger pulling the trigger skillfully.

Bucky feels warmth bloom in his chest. “You talk about me?”

“Bucky, I love you and Riley, you’re an asshole, but can we save this sappy conversation for later?” you stab into a body on the ground when it started to writhe, putting them out of their misery.

The battle rages on, backup from the enemy team rushing in from all entrances of the bunker.

At some point, your trio had to split to help other comrades. You’re bloodied and bruised and everything hurts like a bitch.

When the dust settles, all that’s left is your side of the battle.

Bodies of the enemies spread across the bunker, pooling the ground bloodbath. You’ve lost men on your side too. Good men. People you have come to know during your time here as an undercover agent.

Your eyes scan the massacre, dread clawing at your chest like an animal.

“Baby.”

Your gaze sweeps up to an incoming soldier. He presses his ear comms, most likely calling in for extraction vehicles.

Bucky Barnes.

You want to shout his name, run and jump into his arms, but you can’t. Your legs feel like lead.

It had been three trying months here at the H.O.U.N.D. underground facility. Three months of planning to uproot them and find allies amongst the sea of mindless robots. It wasn’t easy, but you remained strong, even without the love of your life at your side.

Now that everything is said and done, you feel so, so tired. Your bottom lip trembles as you stare at Bucky, wanting him to hold you and get you the hell out of here.

Like a mind-reader, his footsteps quicken until he’s in front of you and he catches you when your knees give out. “Hey, Sweetheart. You’re okay. Mission accomplished,” he says shakily, inspecting your form for any injuries. He finds only minor cuts and bruises. The more major, older injuries have more or less healed. Thank God.

“That’s a lot of paperwork,” you joke tearfully, looking over his shoulder to see your comrades pull dead bodies to the side. You screw your eyes shut, the tears rolling down your cheeks and soaking Bucky’s neck.

These people were unwillingly made soldiers to begin with. They had families, friends. And the ones that didn’t join your resistance were too far gone to save. In fear of torture and death, they played their roles as loyal lapdogs. They kind of reminded you of Bucky. When you made this observation while training here alongside them, you had to wonder if this is what hell is really like. And if so, how on Earth did Bucky survive this?

You recall the screams of the unsuccessful, weaker soldiers that you would hear each night in your cell. You remember your skin crawling and your hair standing on end. You remember missing Bucky and the rest of your family.

And now that you’re going back to them, you don’t ever want to let them go.

“You liked the song I used?” you whisper, slowly coming back to yourself again. You only now realize that he’s carrying you in his arms. The crisp air brushes against your skin as you take in the sight of the night sky. You haven’t seen these stars in ages. You missed them too.

“Always one for theatrics,” he laughs, his chest rumbling against you. He pulls a smile out of you, and he can feel it against his neck. His heart thumps, skips a beat, and speeds up. “The compound was lonely without you.”

“I was lonely without you all. Without you,” you murmur, eyelids drooping. But you want to keep them open, breathe in this cool air and put it all into memory. It was your last day here. The day you saved more innocent people than the ones you killed. The day you saw your Bucky Barnes again after what felt like centuries.

He pulls you tighter against him, ignoring the pain from bruising. “Get some rest. I’ve got you.” He chuckles when you shake your head and mumble a half-hearted noise of defiance. “Steve agreed not to put you on any missions for at least a few weeks. You can Netflix-binge all you want.”

“You gon’ join me?” you ask sleepily. Even after a gruesome battle, the scent of Bucky’s cologne -- the scent of vanilla and spice still remain. It always soothed you.

“Of fuckin’ course I will. I’ll sit next to you and help you with the mission files so you don’t have to worry ‘bout them.”

For a moment, you go silent, and Bucky wonders if you had finally dozed off.

“Bucky?” you whisper shakily, tears beginning to form again.

“Yeah?”

“We need a vacation. Somewhere warmer.” You squeeze him, trying to ground yourself before you start to spiral again. “Somewhere with more light too.”

He pulls back his head and you do the same. Gently, he presses his lips against yours, trying to comfort you as much as he’s trying to comfort himself. “I’ll go anywhere as long as it’s with you.” He wipes away a stray tear before pushing your head back down to rest against his shoulder. He continues his stride to the car.

Perhaps it was a coincidence, or Steve Rogers being a little shit when he started up the car for you two, but a familiar song plays on the radio and rings through the air. The melody reaches both of you and calms you down.

-

Just you and I, I, I, I Just you and I, just you and I, I….

-

[imagine-lcorp]

Mustang Ride (Part VI)

A/N: Coming back from the HIATUS to give you this!!! I really hope you are enjoying the story and like I say I’m gonna be working on pending request so please just hang a lil more. Kudos to you all beautiful beans and let me know what you think.

Lena Luthor x Shapeshifter Reader//Word Count: 1, 581

Series: Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V - Part VI

"Winn, what's going on?" Alex was talking over the intercoms, trying to get as much information as possible since the moment the alarm sounded. You only recognized him due to the obvious distress of his screams. "Okay, calm down. (Y/N) and I are on our way." She cut the communication with a grunt and turned to talk to you. "Polar guy got out, Winn says he's gone crazy."

She turned her com off and moved immediately towards the door. You followed her with your eyes and, by the expression on her face, you knew the situation wasn't good. It didn't help to ease your nervousness.

Lena turned to look at you, becoming aware of the way you were holding her by your side and feeling the tension build on your body. She already knew what was going over your head. Having to face dangerous criminals and having Lena so close to the danger were two things you preferred not to mix. So she placed a hand on your cheek making you focus your eyes on her own.

"I'll stay here, okay? I'll be safe, don't worry." She reassured you with a hint of worry on her face. You looked at her for a moment, her same expression reflected on you, but you nodded, placing your hands on her cheeks and leaving a small kiss on her forehead.

"I'll be back." You promised and rushed outside the medical bay.

It took you barely half a minute to get in the cells and the scene you came to find was nothing like what you had imagined. J'onn could have been fighting alongside the other agents against the three shapeshifters, to keep them at bay and preventing their escape. It could have been a messy encounter, between claws, bullets and screams. Instead, J'onn was trying to push polar guy back on his cell while his other two partners were just about to shatter the reinforced glass of their containment cells.

Polar guy had broken the glass of his own, hitting and smashing himself over and over against it. He had escaped just moments after J'onn had put a foot on the room to carry on with the interrogations. He had seen the glass about to shatter before anyone else and jumped straight against him to hold him in place. You wondered just how mad or crazy polar bear guy had to be to do that. It reminded you of a scene from an old Greek vase, hero and a beast going at each other with matching strength.

A small curse escaped Alex's lips as she realized the gravity of the situation. "(Y/N), can you buy us some time?"

"Sure." You said stepping forward.

You didn't know what to do exactly to help but you trusted Alex would come up with a good plan for the situation. So you threw yourself into the fight and one second later there was a lion in the room. Your roar was enough to distract the three shapeshifters, giving J'onn enough time to push away polar dude. He stumbled and hit the wall of his cell and thought about it as a small victory. That until you saw him shake his head, turned to look at you and charged again with renewed force.

It was kind of a dreadful sight, even worse than the first time you opened the doors of that DEO van. He came charging toward you, too focused that he completely ignored J'onn, or so you thought. This time you didn't let fear paralyze you and, with a quick move, you transformed into a hare to dodge his attack. However, you realized too late, he wasn't exactly trying to get you. He went straight against rhino guy's cell, helping him finally break out of it.

"Seal the block!" Shouted J'onn as soon as he saw the glass crumble and fall into the floor.

Rhino and polar boys turned around and came out of that cell, as if they were part of a stampede, while the lock down alarm sounded through the whole facility, warning the rest the DEO. Lena, however, knew about the danger immediately as she watched with worry the security footage.

She had gone to the control room to ask Winn and Kara if there was anything she could do to help. Winn was going over the controls as fast as he could just to activate whatever safety protocol you could need in there while Kara observed with full attention the security cameras. They were both a bit on edge, watching the people they loved the most being trapped with potential murderers. They observed the fight but when rhino guy got out that was a game changer. Only J'onn and you seemed to be able to hold them in place and the other agents, including Alex, didn't seem sure about what to do. They had their guns but were sure shooting wasn't best idea as the fight was making it impossible to get a clear shot. One wrong move and you could be in greater danger.

"What's happened?" Said Lena when the lock down started. She didn't dare to get her eyes off of the screens.

"Oh my god, it's like they have gone full berserk mode." Winn replied hysterical.

"I'm going in." Kara turned around ready for the fight.

"Wait, you can't!" Shouted Winn. "You can't enter the block and if you try to force your way in you will lock us all in here." With that Kara stopped.

"What do you mean?" Lena had finally moved to the controls to see what Winn was doing.

"If the doors are forced, a new protocol will activate sealing the whole building." He replied without stopping his typing.

"And it could block other computer systems." Lena completed the thought.

"Yes, and I need those programs to get them out."

"Winn, tell me you already a plan for this." Kara went back to the screens, watching the fight evolve on the cell block.

"I'm on it." The typing continued for another few seconds as Kara and Lena observed J'onn and you go against the criminals.

Lena could tell it was, surprisingly, an even fight. Rhino and polar guy were relentless with their attacks but you and J'onn were doing a good job keeping them busy. Alex and gathered the agents at the doors, forming a shield in front of them in case the criminals decided to just run out. But she also noticed they were not exactly fighting with a plan. Winn was right, they acted more like berserks, fighting just for the sake of it. There was no coordination in their movements and the more she looked at them the more she was convinced they had gone crazy. She understood better now why you have been so worried and frightened. They weren't people anymore. And then, there was a blast on the third cell, shattered glass was flying all over the place and another figure had joined the fight.

"Winn!" Kara suddenly shouted back.

"Oh god, oh god." He repeated frantic. "I need a minute!"

As worried as Lena and Kara were, they knew better to let Winn work. Kara had wanted to break into that block right away but Winn's warning had made her rethink it. She had taken a decision like that once and it had nearly cost Alex's life. Lena, on the other hand, could only stare as you transformed in several animals more, big and small, just to try to escape or strike, noticing how tired you were getting. In Roulette's ring, you had told her, you had to fight two or three at a time for the big events. You tried to end the fights as quickly as possible, otherwise you were the one who ended with the worst injuries. Shapeshifting had its own limits and you had to test them all in the ring just to survive for another fight. Unlike J'onn, you had less endurance and shifting that quickly was taking more and more energy than you could have anticipated.

Suddenly, there was a shift that Lena and Kara, or even you and J'onn couldn't notice right away. On the cameras, Lena could watch how the three criminals started shaking, their movements more erratic.

"What's going on?" Lena asked.

"Winn we don't have more time!" Kara turned to see him.

He was still typing but on a second and with a final tap he turned around to answer. "The doors are open. Go!"

The alarms deactivated and Lena saw the screens, a blue blur passing around the block cells and knocking off rhino, polar and snake guys out. They ended on the floor still conscious and moving but instead of getting up to fight again, like Lena had imagined they would, they stood there.

Everyone seemed to take a moment to look at them. Winn had turned on his chair to watch the surveillance cameras, the agents in the cell block were still near the now unlocked doors, pointing their guns at the three of them, J'onn and Kara were in front of the criminals waiting for any sign of attack, and you were behind them, in human form again and catching your breath, observing them closely. The shaking in their bodies increased and the sounds coming from their mouths were those of rabid dogs.

Then, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, they stopped moving. There was no more fight and no more life in them.

[opedguy]

Valerie Jarrett Sees More Compromise with Biden

LOS ANGELES (OnlineColumnist.com), Jan. 24, 2021.--Former advisor to President Barack Obama Valerie Jarrett sees more compromise with Congress under 78-year-old President Joe Biden than the days when she advised Obama from Jan. 20, 2009 to Jan. 20, 2017.  Jarrett thought Barack had a difficult time getting any legislation through a bitterly divided Congress with Democrats controlling both house of Congress between 2009-2014.  Once Obama lost the House in 2014, Jarrett thinks it was tough sledding for the Obama administration in Congress.  Jarrett didn’t mention what happened Dec. 24, 2009 when the U.S. Senate passed the Affordable Care Act AKA Obamacare, eventually signed into law March 23, 2010 on a simple majority vote, when former Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid used the “nuclear option,” passing the legislation with a simple majority.  Reid started the bad blood not compromising between Democrats and Republicans.   

         Jarrett thinks former Sen. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will be in a more conciliatory mood, since he just lost his job to newly minted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.).  Jarrett never fully understood the outrage Republicans felt when Reid went nuclear, railroading Obamacare without one Republican vote.  Whether or not Obama ever regretted the decision is anyone’s guess. But for practical purposes March 23, 2010 ended Obama’s ability to pass bipartisan legislation, eventually losing the House and Senate Nov. 2, 2014.  Republicans were so antagonized by Obama railroading Obamacare in 2010 they used every tactic available to block any White House sponsored legislation.  Jarrett can’t possibly think that if Democrats go ahead with 74-year-old President Donald Trump’s second impeachment, it’s going to promote Biden’s call for unity and bipartisanship.     

        Republicans took Obamacare resistance to the extremes, opposing it just because it was imposed on them in 2010.  Republicans never proposed an alternative to Obamacares, hurting Trump’s prospects of winning a second term.  While Trump’s management of Covid-19 and the economy dominated the campaign, the potential loss of Obamacare didn’t help his fortunes with the vast numbers of voters.  Trump’s 11th hour decision to ram 48-year-old Associate Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett through the Senate also raised fears of losing Obamacare and Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark ruling legalizing abortion.  “I do think our nation is in a very different point today that it was 12 years ago,” Jarrett said.  Jarrett thinks new members of Congress will pressure their older colleague sto take a more progressive stance on different types of legislation on health care, the environment and climate change.    

         Jarrett was part of Obama’s brain-trust that decided to go for broke with Obamacare, pushed by former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who worked on national health care with her husband in 1994, former President Bill Clinton.  Hillary couldn’t get it done then, encouraging Obama to do anything possible to get some version of national health care.  Whatever the problems with Obamacare, it was certainly better than nothing, no matter what its limitations. Biden wants to fix Obamacare and make certain it here to stay.  Biden’s progressive wing preferred a Medicare-for-All plan pushed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  Biden favors fixing Obamacare over the most costly alternative of Medicare-for-All to U.S. citizens.  Jarrett thinks that with a Democrat House and Senate, Joe can get much of his agenda done until the 2022 Midterm elections.     

        Biden’s stated desire to promote unity and bipartisanship should put the brakes on another impeachment trial against Trump.  Trump’s 75 million voters in the 2020 election wouldn’t be happy with another wasteful impeachment trial, especially if it ends badly for Democrats.  “We certainly did a lot back then,” Jarrett said.  “Vice President Biden was very engaged on this front, but [Republicans] made a political decision to not work with us.  I hope that has changed in this current climate,” giving more reason for Biden to talk with 80-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi currently pushing for a second impeachment trial.  Jarret acknowledged that with Congress fairly evenly divided, Joe will need the backing of some Republicans to push his agenda across, unless it’s always with the nuclear option.  Jarrett saw what happened to Barack with Obamacare, she doesn’t want the same thing to happen with Biden. 

            Launching a new impeachment trial with Trump out of office does nothing to advance Biden’s call for unity and bipartisanship. Pelosi argues that it’s important for unity to hold the trial, something some Republicans, like Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.) back.  “Today marks the start of a new chapter in our history,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine.  “In his inaugural address, I was pleased to hear President Biden emphasize that unity is the path forward for our country.”  Collins knows that if Democrats move ahead with a second impeachment trial, it’s only going to promote more rancor between the parties.  “I commend President Biden for his call for national unity, and his assurance to those who did not support him that he will nevertheless be president for all Americans,” said Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.).  If Democrats really want to start on the right foot, they’ll reject Pelosi’s call for a new impeachment trial.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charism

.

[blubberquark]

Execution Skill as a Resource and Bidding Mechanic

Prerequisites: Keith Burgun’s video on execution skill and Dario Wünsch’s advice for StarCraft players with less-than-perfect execution skill

Main Thesis: Execution skill has an important function in many strategy games, beyond merely keeping the outcome of the game uncertain because somebody could still fumble the execution. Execution skill informs and influences tactical and strategic decisions. In this regard, execution skill is analogous to locally good play in Go and short-term tactical skill in board games.

I’m currently working on Bullet Blueprint, a tactics game with real-time controls, but no way to mess up your execution. I’m interested in game feel, and I like making puzzle platformers more than pure puzzle games. If you find that interesting, follow or message right here on this tumblr, or follow me on twitter here.

What is Execution Skill?

Execution skill in games is usually based on dexterity and fast reaction. In contrast to high-level decision-making, execution skill is the ability to “pull off“ a complex strategy in real time and follow through on your decisions.

Execution skill comes in last: After you formulate a plan and commit to it, you need to execute on the plan. If a game does not fit into this schema and you cannot group your actions into plans, you cannot disentangle the slow high-level decision-making from the fast and frequent actions that make up the execution of the plan.

Execution skill usually relies on the fast “System 1“ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thinking%2C_Fast_and_Slow) or “muscle memory“ (arguably a part of System 1, and definitely not actually inside your muscles). High-Level decision making utilises the much slower “System 2″.

“Micro-management” or “twitch skill” are often used synonymously to “execution skill“ in many games. In other games macro-management (e.g. unit production) also benefits from fast execution, so this is not always a one-to-one correspondence.

Skills and Time Scales in StarCraft

Some games require both execution skill and high-level thinking. StarCraft for example contains fast-paced execution, tactical decisions, and long-term strategy. On the long-term strategic level, you have to think about pressure, build orders, expansions, map control, timings and unit compositions. On the intermediate, tactical level, you can decide whether to harass, attack, counterattack or defend. You must regularly gather intelligence/map vision, adjust your army position or divide your army and regularly build pylons so you don’t run out of supply. On the fast execution level, you must split your marines or zerglings against area-of-effect attacks, concentrate fire on the most important or most vulnerable enemy units, save your workers from harassment, stutter-step with marauders, and blink away with stalkers. You must also regularly spawn larvae/chrono-boost/drop mules and build new units.

Tactical and Execution Skill in Games - Overview

(This list is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all game genres)

Turn-based strategy games (Frozen Synapse, Advance Wars) have tactical and strategic elements, but do not rely on twitch execution skill. Tactical decisions allow you to gain or lose a material advantage, but they also have medium-term repercussions on unit positioning.

Fighting games (Towerfall, Street Fighter II, Super Smash Bros) need some tactical decisions, as well as a lot of execution skill. Tactical decisions could be when to attack, when to retreat, where to retreat, what moves to use, and so on. Execution skill is making sure your attacks hit, while dodging/blocking enemy attacks and maintaining your combo.

Some games have minigames that heavily rely on execution skill, like the hacking minigame in the first Mass Effect. The hint book in Machinarium is guarded by a shoot-em-up minigame that relies on some execution skill, while the rest of the game relies on exploration, lateral thinking and logical puzzle solving. This isolated use of execution skill is deliberate, by putting the solution behind a skill check, you still feel a bit accomplished when you open the hint book. The book remains solvable without the lateral thinking and logic skills you lack if you have to resort to the book, and the hint book never has any additional puzzle content you can miss by solving the riddles and never consulting it.

Rhythm games like Quadrant or Bit.Trip.Runner rely on just twitch skill for the most part. There are few to no decisions you can make ahead of time, or that would impact the game world for long. Rhythm games like Bit.Trip.Runner let you practice and learn the same level, but there are next to no real decisions.

Real-Time Strategy games, like the game StarCraft described above, have many layers: Strategic, tactical, execution and metagame. Success or failure on every layer feeds back into the higher layer of decision-making, while higher-level decisions inform the lower-level strategies you must follow. Depending on strategic or metagame decisions, different tactical options are open to you. Different tactical approaches take different amounts of execution skill.

Board Games like Go, but also many Eurogames, often have emergent game phases. The phases are not part of the game’s rules, but emerge as game dynamics from the way these games are scored. In the early game, both players divide the board among each other and try to gain control, while in the late game, they consolidate their position and try to gain points. In Go, this phase distinction is only locally applicable: Both players often play out long sequences on one part of the board while the rest of the board is still open. In the beginning, you stake out your moyo (potential territory). A bigger moyo is harder to defend. Back to board games in general: Complex strategies usually take several turns, but wasting turns and resources puts you at an immediate disadvantage. Thus once you decide to build a road in Catan or to invade a corner in Go, you have to follow up somehow. Good moves can sometimes force your opponents to respond while keeping your options open.

Role-Playing Games (Legend of Grimrock, The Banner Saga, Mass Effect, Final Fantasy) have many tactical decisions in combat, as well as strategic decisions about skills and equipped gear. Some, but not all RPGs also rely on twitch execution skills, but usually the focus is on increasing the skills of the player character, not the actual player, by gaining experience points.

Without an open world, a scarcity of resources, or a hunger clock, there are no long-term consequences to the exact outcomes of battles, beyond mere survival. Many RPGs with scarce resources, like NetHack or The Banner Saga, force you to make strategic decisions about whether to fight certain character at all or at a certain time.

Decisions between Skill and Reward

If you can choose between a plan that requires a high amount of execution skill and a plan that requires just a little execution skill, you choose the more difficult path only if it leads to a reward that is commensurate to the risk, and only if the reward could change the outcome of the game. Strategic decisions in board games and turn-based games relate to tactical skills in a similar manner: You should only decide to start a risky invasion in Go if you need the points, or if you are confident that your own stones will survive.

Games can include certain moves that require a of twitch skill for very little benefit, but these options are red herrings: You do not take them if you are serious about winning.

If you are low in health in a fighting game, it might make sense to re-position yourself for a risky attack, or to try a move that is easy to mess up. As long as you can maintain your advantage, there is no need to resort to risky strategies.

Once you start to execute such a reflex-heavy or lookahead-intensive plan, like an invasion in Go, or early Reaper harassment in Starcraft, you cannot back down without realising your losses, whether they are lost time, stones, moves or Vespene Gas. If you can just pull out your investment and abort the plan, the plan is not that risky after all.

Knowing Your Limits

When you are an advanced beginner at StarCraft or Go, you don’t lose to better players because your invasions fail (Go), or because your Reaper dies (StarCraft) and your investment was for nothing. You probably know how good or bad your are at execution skill (StarCraft) or life-and-death problems (Go) and thus never attempt a plan that is outside of your capabilities.

Execution skill factors into tactical or strategic decision making, even if the difference in execution skill rarely decides any local outcome.

If you take an action - any action - in a game, it signals to your opponent that that you think that this action is the most important thing you thought you needed to do. If you place a stone in Go, it tells your opponent that you think this move is the one that gives you the most points or the safest way to secure your existing advantage in the long run. If you push a lane in a MOBA, this tells the other team that you think this lane needs pushing and is strategically important.

If you commit to a micro-intensive plan, your opponent might conclude that you think you have the skills to pull it off. Depending on the kind of game and your strategy, a perfect response to your plan might require an equal amount of execution skill. Your opponent can decide to go for a difficult defense in response to your attack, or to play a safer strategy, which fares better in the worst case, but is not the best possible response.

Of course, if you are a beginner playing against another beginner, you can usually just attack and see what sticks, because you are as likely to mess up your execution of the attack as your opponent is to mess up the execution of the defense. Sometimes this is the best way to learn.

In this regard, an attack in Go or StarCraft is like bidding or betting: You initiate an attack and bet a large amount of resources on your plan. Your opponent can then decide to either meet you in a contest of execution skill, or to concede a smaller amount of resources for certain.

Reflexes, Attention, and APM as Resources

Execution skill in real-time games has one additional layer beyond providing uncertainty, the risk-reward dynamic, or estimating and betting on skill levels.

Especially RTS games and MOBAs require constant vigilance and attention. The map is much bigger than your screen, and unlike in action games or RPGs, important things can happen everywhere on the map while you are not looking. You need to be aware of the state of the whole map, your own position, your allies and your enemies. While you are pushing a lane, concentrating on last-hitting, focus-firing, or splitting your marines against banelings, you have less time and attention left to build your base, defend against counterattacks, keep tabs on your teammates, or to think about what to do next.

The faster you are at execution, the more time you can free up to do more things.

A common pitfall for new StarCraft players is to focus too much time and attention on your main army, and not enough on building your base and scouting the map. If you learn to play faster, you can switch focus to and from your base and economy more often, but especially if you are slow, your attention should be distributed economically in the first place. As the conventional wisdom in StarCraft goes, a player with bad execution skill but sound priorities and a high-level strategy will beat a player with high APM and a bad economy.

TL;DR: Do not just think about contests of execution skill deciding the outcome of a game, think about how execution skill or a lack thereof influences high-level decisions!

[poutypanic]

Finding Purpose Chap 12

Chap Summary: Welcome to Angst Town, USA. A lil under 6K

AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/10529928/chapters/26581890

Fic Summary: You've been living alone in Hanamura for the past five years, and are content to stay that way. You have a troubled past and have let it isolate you. One night a ruckus is coming from the Shimada Castle. Against your better judgment you check it out, eventually, you end up befriending an archer with a past as equally troubling as yours.This is a romance/fluff and slow burn, coupled with action and angst.

This mission has been a damn mess from the get go. There are far more Talon agents here than anyone had thought there would be. While this development is giving you a severe case of angina, Morrison is taking it as good news. This must mean that the Doomfist gauntlet has been stashed here. Why else would there be a need for so much security? This was supposed to be a simple scoping mission. A team sent in to see if those rumors are true, and it’s looking like that’s most likely a yes. This compound is large, tall, and confusing. It's clear that it had been repurposed. What used to be a building for business and pushing papers, now being used by a terrorist organization to house something valuable and dangerous.

While you and Hanzo are sprinting across an open expanse of space in pursuit of an entryway into the building, Widowmaker starts her assault. A terribly loud shot rings out and bounces off the walls. Making it hard to figure out where she is perched. The first shot just barely misses Hanzo, zings past his head, and sticks into the wall. Causing pieces of metal and brick to spread out in all directions, that was centimeters away from being Hanzo’s skull.

You don't have time to waste on dwelling on the what-if's of the situation. Quickly you block Hanzo from the Widow with your body. Tell him to get down and keep moving. Use you as a shield as much as he can. The sniper’s bullets ding off of your armor and back at her. Why hasn't she relented? Perhaps it's because she is too far away for the bullets to reach her again, or perhaps she's good at dodging them. These shots are going to stay with you for a week or two, in the form of rich colored bruises. Every one feeling like a concentrated punch on your skin.

Abruptly, her shots stop. You’re hoping one of them finally reached her, came back at the woman like karma. However, it is more likely that she realized she was getting nowhere and decided to move on.

After you guys get to proper cover, you leave Hanzo to go and check out a spot that Morrison says the gauntlet may be in. You’re the closest ground agent to it. So it has become your responsibility to see if it is there. If you find it, you are then to take up the task of making it back to the drop ship with it. Hanzo will stay perched at the entrance keeping anymore Talon agents from entering the building.  

On the way there, you nearly run right into the Reaper. By the skin of your teeth, you manage to avoid his detection. Quickly you duck out of sight. Your heart races as you hide behind the corner praying that he won't come this way. Just pick a different route you big pain in my ass. No past encounter has ever gone over well with him, and you’ve only got so much luck to spare. It almost feels as if he’s got a vendetta against you. Maybe it's because now matter how hard he tries, you’re that one agent who just keeps getting away from him. You never die when he wants you to.

To your immense relief, Pharah starts unleashing some attention-commanding hell. Reaper quickly moves on from where you need to be, with the objective of pacifying the problems she is causing. Turns out luck is on your side, yet again. You continue in your pursuit to see if the gauntlet is where Morrison thinks it is. You have to climbs stairs… so many god damned stairs, before you finally make it to the floor you need to be on.

You get one of your guns ready, point it ahead of you, and enter the room cautiously. Sombra squats down on the floor tinkering with a suspicious looking package attached to a drone. You've never actually met this Talon agent before. However, you still recognize her from the photos you've seen of her in meetings.

“Alright, Sombra. That’s enough of that, thanks. Step away from the drone.”

Sombra smirks up at you, not at all looking like she’s worried about you being here. She casually stands up and places her hands onto her hips. She saunters towards you, dramatically placing one foot right in front of the other with each step. Every step she takes closer, you take two steps back. Your stance becoming more and more hostile each time. Sombra eyes you up and down, with a very curious look on her face. Sombra has been the only agent that Winston had specifically warned you about. He gave you several words of caution, stating that Sombra's abilities could potentially be detrimental for you.

This being your first one on one with her, you're nervous. You have a fundamental understanding of her talents, but you're still unsure of what to expect. You have certainly had to deal with the problems she's caused in past missions. All those times she’s made it impossible to leave buildings. Hacked doors, drop ships, and your comms. Made certain agents weapons useless. Made intel look real enough to lure teams into locations with nothing but an ambush awaiting them there. You’re not sure what would happen if she got close enough to touch you, and you don’t want to find out.

“That’s a neat suit of armor you got there. Nano bots? How cliche.”

She snaps her fingers and the drone suddenly takes flight. Oh no, no. That package has to be the gauntlet, and you can't be the agent that just let it get away. You point your gun at the drone and fire off several shots. With your full concentration, each hit their target and the drone starts to fall back to the ground. Sputtering, smoking and broken into pieces. As you try and refocus your attention back on Sombra, you find that she has disappeared. You know about this trick. Bad, very very bad. Panic churns your stomach, makes it hard to plan a viable plan of action.

The first thing you do is try back yourself into a corner. If can manage to corner yourself before she has a chance to get behind you, then you can fire blindly and hopefully scare her away. But it’s already too late. This time you’re all out of luck. You could swear your heart stops for a moment as you feel her nails rake across the bots on your hip.

She states mockingly, “Got you!”

The machines instantly turn on you. Retreat back under your skin and start to warm themselves up to dangerously high temperatures. The pain at first is moderate, but it doesn't take long for it to become unbearable. It’s the most physically painful thing you’ve ever felt in your life. The bots are starting to cook you from the inside out, and no matter how much you internally plead with them to stop they won’t listen to you.

They feel hostile. They no longer feel like your annoying second conscience, or your protectors. That's all gone within seconds. Your throat starts to close up on you, and your brain starts to black out the experience. Before you drop to your knees, you manage to comm Hanzo. You can’t remember hearing your own voice, much less what you said. All you can do is hope that you've got just a bit more luck left in the reserves.

~

When your voice buzzes in his ear, it’s as if the noise of the entire world gets canceled out for a few moments. You’re in trouble, and the amount of pain in your voice is inexplicably alarming. Without a single thought about it, he sprints to your location. As he’s climbing the wall to the last floor he was aware you were on, it’s clear that he is in the right area, because he can hear you wailing. He pulls himself over the edge, in through the window, and immediately nocks an arrow. The first thing he sees is Sombra looming over you. Watching as you writhe around in pain on the ground.

She looks to be waiting for someone. Evidenced by the tapping of her foot, and the look she shoots over her shoulder. When she looks back to you, the look on her face actually tells Hanzo that she’s horrified by the sight of you. If she doesn’t like what she’s done then why doesn't she fix it? Is it because it’s irreversible? When she sees Hanzo, she tries to run for a package off to the side next to a broken drone. He lets his ready arrow fly. It goes right through her calve and sticks into the wall, keeping her there. She screeches and falls down onto one of her knees, clutches her leg, and lets out a pathetic sob.

Hanzo nocks another arrow and points it right at her head,

“What did you do to her!”

Hanzo looks to you. Still writhing in pain, teeth bared. Tears running down your face. Blood has started to flow out of your nose, and it doesn't seem as if you can breathe.

Sombra tosses up her hands, “I’ll reverse it! I’ll reverse it!”

Sombra is about to tell him that he’ll need to bring you over to her, but he’s already bending over and giving the shaft of the arrow a strong tug. Only enough to remove it from the wall and not her leg, but it still causes her to scream none the less. He takes a hold of her arm and drags her over to you.

Sombra presses a long nail into your skin, breaking through it. A small line of blood drizzles down your arm. Hanzo nearly snatches her arm back up, so he can yank her away from you. Sombra hastily takes note of the hostility towards what she’s doing and quickly throws her free hand up,

“Relax! Relax! I have to be able to touch them to reverse it!”

The room falls heavy with silence as you stop wailing. It’s relieving but also eery. You haven’t passed out yet, from the looks of you it doesn't seem like you'll be conscious much longer. It looks to him like you are trying to gather your sanity back. With your eyes filtering wildly around the room. Only coming to a fixed point when you find him. Sombra looks up at Hanzo and holds both her hands up. Arms shaking from the pain her leg is in.

“There. All fixed, problem solved, you probably gonna want to get her some medical attention, yeah?”

“I don’t need you to tell me that.”

Hanzo is aware that she’s trying to get rid of him. Trying to distract him from something. Then he remembers the package that she was trying to go after. He looks at it fully understanding what is in there. Then resumes pointing a nocked arrow at her head.

“Leave.”

“B-but—“

“Do not make me repeat myself!”

Sombra struggles to get up on to her one good leg, as she still wants to keep her hands raised. She doesn’t know what kind of person she has in front of her. Doesn’t want to risk accidentally doing anything that might cause him to become trigger happy. She’s already made the mistake of hurting someone he obviously cares about. That's an automatic two strikes. Sombra’s a woman who knows when she’s skating on thin ice.

Still, it is in her nature to be cheeky. She eyes the package one more time and thinks on it. Then comes to a quick conclusion, which is, screw it. Reaper can cry to her about it all he wants later. She can always handle that. What’s holding up that man anyway? He’s the one who demanded she stay and babysit you. She could’ve been long gone already and with the gauntlet. All she is going to be focused on right now is getting out of here with her head in tact. Next on the agenda? Getting her hands on some pain meds as soon as possible. She hobbles away, taking her leave as fast as she possibly can.

Hanzo watches has Sombra literally disappears as she goes through the doorway. That makes him nervous. But since she’s bleeding and loudly shuffling, she won’t be able to sneak up on him. So he puts the arrow back and hooks his bow back around his body. Then he quickly gets on the comm to let the team know,

“The gauntlet is exactly where you thought it was, Morrison. Though, you will have to come retrieve it yourself.”

Morrison, “What the hell are you talking about Shimada? Grab it, bring it back here.”

That's an order he won't be following. Hanzo's first priority is getting you to safety. If he’s both carrying you and the gauntlet, that’s going to make him the biggest possible target for attack. He won’t risk it. Doesn’t begin to care enough about the gauntlet to chance that you might get even more hurt as he’s getting you back to the drop ship. When Hanzo doesn't answer, Morrison starts going off in his ear. Hanzo barely hears him, couldn’t even bring himself to register what it is he’s going on about. Just a bunch of you better do this, you better do that nonsense. Maybe Hanzo’s not cut out for taking orders.

Even with blood still pouring from your nose, you are already trying to get yourself back up on your feet. Hanzo bends over to try and scoop you up, but you try and wave him away. He grabs a hold of your arm and throws it over his shoulder,

“You are going to let me help you.”

He hooks an arm around your waist and pulls you in close to his side. Your breath is shallow and raspy; it sounds like breathing is a painful task. Your head falls against his chest as you start to sob. You’re in so much pain and feel as if all of the muscle strength has been drained from your body. How are you supposed to go anywhere feeling like this?

“I’m so sorry…”

“For what? Don’t be ridiculous; let’s get you to the doctor.”

Hanzo is about to pick you up and carry you. This time you were going to let him. But then something catches his eye, something terribly awful. Black smoke starts the flitter over the edge of the window he had arrived in. Quickly accompanied by two clawed gloved hands grasping at the sides. You see it too and quickly drop out of his grasp to grab a hold of the pistol you had dropped during your turmoil. You may be exhausted and in pain, but you have no choice but to muster up some more energy and strength.

Hanzo scoffs as he follows after you, helping you get back up by grabbing a hold of your waist.

“You’ve got three others you don’t need that one.”

Your voice is barely audible. A terribly scratchy and breathy sounding rasp, “With him we’ll need all we have.”

As Hanzo is securing your arm back over his shoulder, you point your gun at the open window and fire right as the Reaper starts to pull himself through. The shot lands dead center in his chest and makes him falter long enough for the two of you to get a decent head start. Hanzo tries to comm for back up. Everybody is busy dealing with their own big problems. Several promises are made to be there as soon as possible. While Morrison is still harping about gauntlet. You get a newfound rush of adrenaline and unhook yourself from Hanzo. You both can run much faster if you’re not latched onto him.

Unfortunately, when your luck ran out, it ran dry as a bone. Trying to go back the way you came is no good. There is a gang of Talon agents that are starting to swarm the area. All crowding around the last known spot of the gauntlet. Because of this, you’ll have to take a longer route to get back to the drop ship. You look behind you, actually expecting the Reaper to have given up the chase. If the gauntlet is back there, then what reason does he have to keep coming after you?

But he hasn’t stopped his pursuit. He’s still hot your trail, ghosting after you at an alarming speed. What could either of you have that he would still want? But then again Reaper’s motivations have always been shaky. Even with clear motivation sitting on the floor back in that room, it would seem that his own personal vendettas' are getting the best of him.

You sprint into what looks to be a grand lobby. The place where business men and woman alike used to come and chat with coworkers, check in for work, then take elevators up to higher floors. It looks like at some point in its life it used to be shiny and clean cut. Now it's just a dusty shell with high walls made of glass and run down counters. The ceiling is made of intricate rafters, almost looking to be an art piece. Clearly made for style, more than structure. Hanzo shoves you behind one of these counters and demands,

“Hide.”

Hanzo disappears up one of the walls, no doubt getting to a higher advantage. You do as you’re told, ducking under one of the counters with your gun clutched in your hand. You can feel the bots poking at the underside of your skin, but the mere slight touch of them feels excruciating. You beg and beg and beg them not to reappear. If they do, you’re sure you’ll pass out. That's the last thing you need right now. You refuse to become any more of a burden in this situation.

You didn’t hear the Reaper enter the room, not until he started talking.

“I’m here to collect your debt number 1013. I know all about your petty thievery and jail break. You owe Talon a lot, and it’s time to pay up.”

So he’s after you. Guilt wells up in your chest, and you temporarily contemplate giving yourself up. But you know that Hanzo would never just let the Reaper take you away, and that wouldn’t make the situation any better. Might end up getting Hanzo severely hurt or killed, and you couldn’t live with that. You choose to stay still and stay silent. If he doesn't think you guys are in here, maybe he’ll leave. Of course, Reaper is no fool, and he won't be leaving.

It’s as if he can smell you guys. Maybe he can just sense you. Regardless, he hovers in the room waiting to hear any sort of noise that will lead him to either one of you. Then he stops using his senses and starts using his common sense. He’s back to his solid form for the moment, and you can hear his heavy boots colliding with the floor. Heavy ominous steps that are headed your way. You’re starting to feel like one of those characters in a horror movie, hiding from the monster who is inevitably going to murder you. You know how those scenes play out, nobody survives.

Your body sways as you try to get yourself prepared to fight. Your equilibrium lost to fatigue and a sore body. An arrow pierces through the air and lands right into Reapers neck. He grunts and curses. He is so close that he falls forward on the counter top with a loud thump. Another arrow flies and nearly hits him in the exact same spot. Reaper whips around and rips the arrows from his own body without any hesitation or care.

“You don’t have to feel left out, brother killer. You can come along too, having the both of you around would provide sound… motivation to be obedient.”

Hanzo’s response is yet another arrow, and this one plants right into the back of his skull. This time coming from a completely different corner of the room. Reaper drops to his knees, reaches back, and removes the arrow with the same reckless abandon he had with the others. A sickening cracking noise accompanies the action, making your stomach turn in on itself. You look around the corner of the desk in time to see Reapers whole body vibrate and momentarily turn into a dark plume of smoke before it all collides back together again, recreating his form.

Reaper gets his sights on Hanzo. You can see it in his stance, the way he becomes suddenly alert and stiff. Two tendrils' shoot up towards the ceiling. One wraps around the beam and squeezes it 'til it breaks. While the other wraps around Hanzo's ankle to keep him from bolting away. Hanzo plummets to the ground, landing harshly on his back with a pained grunt. You don't even think about your actions. You ready a gun, point it at the Reapers back, and fire. Blood briefly spurts out of the front of his chest for each shot that lands. You shoot until he has no choice but to let go of Hanzo in order to deal with you.

You reach for a couple grenades, with the full intentions of sending them both Reaper's way. You don't yell for Hanzo to take cover, but rather demand it in a whisper into the comm. Hanzo takes the command without hesitation and runs for cover. You swiftly throw the grenades, both live, as they leave your hand and duck back behind the counter.

Both of them go off, and they are painfully loud. In your haste, you had forgotten to cover your ears. Causing your ears to ring, as tons of glass shatters against the floor. Making the ringing feel like a wave of dizziness and searing pain in your head. The promise of a debilitating migraine tickles at the base of your skull. You fall forward onto your hands on knees, gritting your teeth, trying to get your rational thinking back into gear again. Hanzo is desperately trying to warn you about something in your ear but you just can’t register it.

By the time you can finally hear him it’s far too late, “Get out of there! Run! Go! He’s coming for you!” He shouts your name so loud, you can hear him from across the room, “What are you doing! Move!”

You hop up onto your feet, try to slide over the top of the counter. But the Reaper is already there, ready for you. He wraps a tendril of smoke around your body and tugs your towards his person. And then hurls you towards Hanzo. Uses your whole body as a weapon against him.

You plummet into him sideways. You can hear a couple of his ribs crack from the impact. Despite the pain, Hanzo still catches you, holds you as you both hit the ground hard. You hit so hard that your right arm dislocates out of your shoulder. Glass crinkles and cracks under your collective weight. Hanzo grabs you by that same arm, not knowing that you’re hurt and rolls you off of him. Your cry from the pain is only brief, but it still startles him to the point of making him pause.

You quickly give him reassurance, “I’m okay! Just focus! Focus!”

Hanzo helps you back up onto your feet as he is doing the same. Hanzo is about to unleash the dragons, but if the Reaper is ready for them he just might escape their wrath. So you distract him with several more guns shots right in his face. They are so concentrated that they blast away nearly half of his mask. At first, he falls back, his whole body twisting away from you. Then he whips back around to face you. All of his attention and rage focused on you and you alone. For a moment it's like it's just him, you, and your imminent death.

Then you make your true fatal mistake. You couldn't help it, but the sight of Reapers face is… shocking to say the very least. His skin is gray and rotted, yellow teeth exposed where his cheeks should be covering them. His eyes cloudy but still so piercing. You had always speculated that there was a reason for the mask. But it had always been a possibility that he was just protecting his identity. You just hadn't expected him to look like the literal living dead.

His appearance isn't from your shots either. Bullet holes in his forehead and cheeks all healing before your eyes, and he still looks like that.

The shock is clearly painted on your face. Might as well be a big glowing sign with flashing lights and neon colors, and Reaper loathes it. The next tentacle that reaches out for you has no intention of keeping you alive. Suddenly, the Reaper forgets about all of his plans that he had for you. He’s feeling so much hatred for that look. It’s racing through his system, unstoppable heat that carries no rational thought. All he wants to do is permanently remove it from his sight, never wants it to be seen again.

As you start to try and back away, you hear Hanzo summon the dragons. The room suddenly drops immensely in temperature, and your breath turns into plums of ice. The tendril of smoke that is rocketing towards you scoops up a large dagger-like shard of glass from the ground, and then hurls it towards you. The bots react in kind and don’t give you a choice in the matter. They calculate where the shard is going to hit and pull themselves from your chest first. Just barely shielding you in time as the pointy end of the glass careens in between your ribs and shatters.

The bots have no control over where the pieces ricochet. Nothing about their trajectory is planned or coordinated. A piece of the glass careens towards Hanzo’s throat as the dragons are turning Reaper into a living statue. His wraith-like form and tendrils stand frozen in a state of perpetual motion. The dragons settle in on either side of the room, ensuring that the climate stays cold enough to keep the Reaper at bay. All in the same moment the shard of glass slices open the side of Hanzo’s throat.

Your world suddenly feels as if it’s made of mud. The air too thick to breathe, too heavy to move through quickly. A sickening amount of blood spurts from his neck. So hot as it hits your face, neck, and arm. You immediately comm Angela. Your voice muffled to your own ears, sounding as if you're talking under water. She’s close? She’s on her way? You can barely hear her. Your ears are too flooded with the sound of your own heartbeat, too damaged from the explosions.

Before Hanzo falls to the ground, he finishes what he started. Aims a scatter of arrows towards the ceiling. When he lets it off it shatters Reaper into dozens of pieces. Breaks off his head. It hits the hard floor and shatters into even more smaller segments.

You get to Hanzo’s side as quick as you can. Help him lay back onto the ground and rip the scarf out of his hair. You tie it around his neck so tightly that he can barely breathe. What else is there to do? It’s either air or blood flow. On top of the scarf your apply your own pressure with your hand. You’ve only got one good one, the other is lying unless, limp at your side. Everything in the vicinity is messy with his blood. The golden scarf already stained a deep red. It’s slippery and hard to get a proper grip, but you keep trying anyway.

Hanzo is hyperventilating. His chest heaving up and down rapidly. Never able to get a proper intake of breath. He clutches onto your wrist. All the heat his skin usually carries gone, now replaced by cold and clammy. Hanzo tries to say something, but it comes out strangled and wordless. The sound of it tears you up from heart to gut, tears brim in your water line. Do not start crying right now, do not be that selfish.

“Hanzo just focus on breathing-“ Your voice cracks and you have to take in a deep breathe, “Angela will be here soon… just stick with me, please.”

You get closer to his face and whisper with conviction, “You are so strong, and I love you so much. You can survive this.”

Genji shows up first, followed shortly by Angela. You can hear the sound of Peacekeeper of in the distance, but not too far away. Genji removes your hands, stating that he can hold the pressure better. You fall back onto your butt and bring your arm up to your face. Wiping away tears. When had you started crying?

Angela wastes no time giving Genji instructions and commands. Your attention is torn away for a brief moment when the dragons let off a tragic whine. You look behind you to see them slowly fading. Like plums of shiny glitter and ice dissipating into the air. Not at all the normal procedure for their departure.

You whisper, “Please don’t go.”

They’ve faded away completely before you can even get the last syllable out. The room starts to revert back to his normal temperature. Your head spins and your vision starts to become shaky. You've broken down, completely lost it. All of your composure and will lost to anguish. The last thing you can remember is Angela demanding Genji carry Hanzo and a familiar blurred sight of a cowboy hat and a red serape.

~

Angela’s been in this profession for what feels like her whole life. And no matter how many times she relays bad news, it never gets easier. It shouldn't be shocking that people as strong as you or as poised as Genji would break down in the face of uncertainty. She's seen it dozens of times before. People that she never thought she'd see break down into tears of helplessness; falling apart when she can't assure them that the one that they love and care about will pull through. And yet it is shocking and it hurts, just as bad as all the other times.

Unfortunately, right now, that's the case. All she can do is monitor Hanzo and hope. And having to be reduced down to hoping for the best sucks. She knows it, everyone in this room knows it. There’s only one thing to her that feels worse than hoping, and that's false hope. She has only ever given that once in her career and that was one of the worst mistakes she had ever made.

So no matter how much it breaks her heart to see Genji and you so distraught, she has no other words of assurance. No matter how many “Well possibly’s” or “I feel” or “I think’s” she’s got sitting on the tip of her tongue. She simply doesn't know with out a doubt if Hanzo is ever going to wake up again.

All she has is that dreaded line, “There’s just nothing else I can do right now… I’m so sorry.”

There are numerous things about her infirmary right now that usually, she wouldn't tolerate. The number of people. How huddled they are to the bed where Hanzo lies. And that damn dog…. She shakes her head. Get’s rid of the mini rant about the unsanitary nature of animals. Animals have proven to be helpful for patients recovery, so she’ll let it slide. Besides, she couldn't pry the pup from under your arm anyway. The poor creature taking the brunt of the tears and silent sobs. Your face buried into her stomach while she's curled up next to Hanzo’s waist on the hospital bed.

Genji sits on the other side of Hanzo. Slumped in a chair. One bouncing leg crossed over the other. Arms crossed, fists clenched near his biceps. He hasn't removed his visor and won’t. Jesse’s arm gently laid across his shoulder, gliding a comforting hand up and down his arm. Genji’s dragon is curled up next to Hanzo as well but they’re restless. Their tail lifting up and slamming back down onto the bed over and over. Pat… pat… pat.. pat…

You are not without your own comforter. Hana rubs your back, grazes her nails along your shoulders. All while saying soft toned words of encouragement and… hope. You really should be in a hospital bed as well. You’ve got your own amalgamation of injuries that you need to be recovering from. Including something else that Angela couldn’t even bear to bring up right now. She’s breaking all kinds of ethical codes by keeping it to herself. But she’s the boss here, and the only consequences she’ll have to deal with are her own guilt.

Angela has to pull herself away. There are others she needs to attend to. She is not without help anymore. Has other seasoned war doctors and nurses at her command. But every patient in this infirmary is her responsibility. Hers to ensure they get the best medical care possible.

She sighs and says softly, “I’ll be back within the hour to check on him.” Before she takes her leave, she leans down and whispers into Hana’s ear, “If you can manage to get her into a bed I’d be grateful.”

Hana nods and returns the whisper, “I’ll do my best.”

You can't bring yourself to look at him anymore. Can't bear to look at his pale face or the bruised sections of skin. The amounts of tubes and breathing apparatuses working to help keep him alive. Guilt turns your heart into a solid piece of rock. No amount of rational thinking could help you convince yourself that this is not your fault. If he— you can't even finish the thought without a sob breaking the concentration required to complete it. If you manage to be gifted with a reprieve from this horrible nightmare you've found yourself in, you'll never willingly enter into another situation that would warrant this kind of outcome again. There's no objective, no object in the world, valuable or important enough to make this worth it.

[thatonehiddenbladeingibraltar]

BABYWATCH BABYWATCH BAY BEE WATCH!!

Make #Babywatch a thing @Blizzard

Gonna do a small story before moving onto specific details (headcanons under the cut)

How someone managed to survive taking care of more than one child was a question Ana Amari often thought of when she tucked Fareeha to bed. It seemed like a nuisance to have babies hanging off your limbs, screaming their lungs off while smacking their toys against God knows what. Unfortunately, that was the situation that Ana found herself in on the battlefield as a dying Talon agent activated a device that emitted multiple rays as she gave the agent a swift shot between their eyes.

‘Better than a slow, ruthless death.’ she thought before disabling the machine with a bullet after checking the area for any potential surviving members that could be affected by the sudden gunshot.

Just as Ana finished storing the device in a pocket, a wail attracted her attention along with the sound of angry babbling. She silently crept towards the source of the commotion only to find what seemed to be two one year olds that looked eerily like Jack and Gabe smacking each other with miniature versions of their weapons and yelling at each other in gibberish. The strangest thing was that they seemed to burst into laughter every few seconds as if they forgot that they were enemies while they continued to smash their guns at full force towards the head or body. A blue blur suddenly dashes by them and attaches itself to Ana’s leg as the woman looked down to see someone that looked like Tracer grinning widely, showing off a few pearly baby teeth.

“Up, up, up!” She begged as she pulled on Ana’s pant leg until the older woman picked her up as she continued to survey her surroundings. A younger Reinhardt and Torbjörn smacked on a crate with mini hammers while two babies that appeared to be the Shimada brothers kept trying to get their dragons to beat each other in a small contained battle. A tiny cowboy hat whizzed by as minuscule bullets were repeatedly fired from a small silver revolver at a tiny Widowmaker and Sombra while a small Mei slid down from a slide made of ice with Symmetra and Lucio following closely. A blonde toddler with a caduceus stick that appeared to be Angela jogged around, zapping Zarya and D.va while Zenyatta (surprisingly unaffected) floating behind in an attempt to keep as many toddlers safe from D.va’s tiny mech and Zarya’s cannon.

“Mama!” A recognizable voice calls out and Ana turns to see a two year old Fareeha walking towards her shakily before catching her daughter and scooping her into her other arm.

“This is going to be fun.” Ana sighs as she watches her daughter try to push a stray lock of hair away from her eyes while Lena began poking at Fareeha’s cheeks.

Jack Morrison/Soldier: 76:

He’s one of the easier babies to take care of. Unless he’s next to Gabe

The two are inseparable and it nearly brings Ana to tears

She and Winston make sure that the two of them are sleeping in the same room, if not in the same crib

Even though the two fight in the makeshift playroom, they always found a way to make up in very unique ways

One time Ana and Winston caught Jack hand Gabe his favorite nesting block as a peace offering before they settled in for the night

Gabe didn’t say anything except that he hugged them before Ana had to break up their little moment

Jack still wears a miniature version of his trademark 76 jacket everyday, even when he’s asleep

If anything, baby Jack reminds Ana and Winston of the old Jack Morrison. The harsh, but caring Strike Commander of Overwatch who still believed that the world was worth saving, even if he died in the process

Of course, a mild version of Strike Commander Jack Morrison. He was a baby after all

Ana remarks to Winston one day as he’s fixing the Talon device that Jack looked less stressed after a single night of sleep

She even found him passed out in a nest of stuffed animals that the other babies and toddlers have left

Always accepts the food and drinks that Ana always gives him, no protests ever

In all honesty, Ana would be heartbroken to see Jack returned to normal, but she understands that all good things have to come to end. Besides, Jack isn’t the only person she would be upset to see as an adult again.

Gabriel Reyes/Reaper:

Somehow, the machine managed to reverse whatever happened to Gabriel in Switzerland

It’s slightly disorienting to see Reaper with a non-corporeal form instead of his usual wraith characteristics

Zenyatta actually helps calm Gabe down when his temper when Ana isn’t around

The behavior shift becomes apparent when it takes him longer to notice that his food isn’t in front of his face at an exact time

Bonus points for Zenyatta since he’s the one who generally deals with Gabe’s diaper

Ana definitely takes the opportunity to snap a few pics, just to remember what Gabe used to look like as a baby

He has definitely played with his claws and scratched himself by accident multiple times

Enough times for Ana to convince Zenyatta to find the highest point on base and leave it there until Gabe’s reversed back to Reaper

Even then, she might just leave it there, simply because she can

There’s a part of Ana that wants to keep Gabe as a baby forever so she doesn’t have to remember that he became one of Overwatch’s top priority targets

If she had to choose between Jack and Gabe to reverse, it would’ve been Jack

Jack wasn’t too far gone, but Gabe? Gabriel Reyes was on a completely different level post-Switzerland

Out of all of the babies/toddlers, Gabe wasn’t easy to take care of

Temperamental, prone to tantrums and the like

Unless of course Jack or Ana were nearby

Him and Jack were attached to the hip at every point of the day, even in bed

If Gabe wasn’t in a crib nearby, he would cry until he was either sleeping in the same crib as Jack or he was in a crib nearby

Don’t ask how he knows if he’s close to Jack, he just knows

He gets on well with baby McCree

Well if getting along well means being McCree’s moving target

Toys, the occasional book, food

This weird goop that toddler Angela may have pulled out of a cabinet from the infirmary

Anything really

Every time McCree does this, Gabe only needs to glare and McCree backs down

Only for a few hours, though. The toddler’s relentless

Gabe and Genji have this silent affection for each other

Anyone can tell that Gabe’s a bit confused at the sight of Genji, but he gets over himself

Besides Pharah, Gabe’s the one that gets a load of bedtime treatment from Ana

She can’t help it, who can resist baby Gabe’s pouty face?

Lena Oxton/Tracer:

It’s almost impossible to keep Tracer in one spot for more than a second

One second she may be playing with a stuffed animal, the next she’s stacking a discarded pile of nesting blocks that Sombra tossed aside

Lena loves chasing Widowmaker around and it’s the most hilarious thing Ana and Winston have seen, aside from McCree trying to sneak attack Hanzo only to get two dragons carrying him to god knows where on base

Toddler Lena, much like adult Lena, loved to be with Winston

If she wasn’t in the playroom that Ana set up, she was at Winston’s side, playing with something she managed to pick up in his lab

Winston may or may not have accidentally gotten little Lena addicted to peanut butter

He swears it was an accident, even as he discreetly hands another jar to the toddler

Seeing Tracer with a tiny chronal accelerator was one of the most adorable, yet terrifying things Ana had to witness

She could blink into the middle of the ocean and no one would even know

Thankfully that hasn’t happened yet

But just in case, Ana asks Winston to modify it so that Lena couldn’t blink anywhere off-base

Lena will eat everything and anything

Same thing goes for drinks

She fidgets as she falls asleep

Even in her sleep, she’s always tossing and turning

It isn’t anything malicious, Lena always has to be moving

Better that she fidgets than get no sleep at all

Lena sometimes babbles for ‘Emily’ and asks where ‘Emily’ is when Ana walks into the room

Ana has absolutely no clue who Emily is until Winston whispers the answer to her

After Winston informs her, she scoops her up and tells her that Emily will be arriving very soon if she behaved

You can bet your top dollar that Ana immediately calls up Emily and jettisons her to the base just so she can take care of Tracer

When Emily finds her girlfriend as a toddler, she wants to laugh, but settles for snapping a few pictures

Reinhardt and Torbjörn:

You thought Jack and Gabe were inseparable? Think again

These two just seem to be the literal incarnation of the hammer bros from Mario

They literally run around smashing the floor with their tiny hammers and it actually isn’t as annoying as anyone may think it is

If it isn’t the floor, it’s the legs of various cribs

Ana and Zenyatta decide to let them run around in a little outdoor area just so they would stop destroying the cribs

Sometimes they smack each other with their hammers, but do they cry about it? Nope

If anything, they just take it in stride

Meals with these two are always fun

Mainly because it’s a good practice of your dodging reflexes

At least that’s what Ana discovered when she tried spoon-feeding them

Now she knows to keep her distance whenever they need food

Winston’s a puke magnet for these two

For some apparent reason that Ana, Zenyatta or Winston can’t seem to figure out

The first thing Winston’s doing with the Talon device is turning Reinhardt and Torbjörn back to their adult bodies because if he gets puked on one more time, he’s going to lose it

Genji:

Okay first off, baby Genji is the most adorable baby you’ll ever see

No lie, every time he gives you a gummy smile, your heart will melt almost instantly

One of the most happiest babies that could ever exist honestly

Even though Ana hadn’t known Genji very well before the fall, Zenyatta does give her little tidbits of his life before Overwatch

Anytime Ana looks at Genji before she leaves the nursery immediately makes her wonder what life for him would’ve been if the Shimada clan hadn’t sent his brother to murder him

Speaking of Hanzo, the two tiny Shimada bros got along well

The two of them brought out their dragons frequently to play with them or use them as a makeshift bed

At night, the noodle dragons would just curl up against both brothers

The dragons seemed perfectly alright with it

If anything, they were just confused that their masters were tiny once more

The only disorienting thing for Zenyatta out of all this was seeing Genji playing with Hanzo

He knows what happened between the two, so seeing them run around like they were the best of friends was strange at first

Somehow, the Talon machine did the same thing to Genji as it did to Gabe

In all honesty, Zenyatta was shocked to see Genji without his cybernetics and have actual flesh and bone in lieu of his armor

Genji did have this weird habit of smashing the new rattle on Hanzo’s arm or leg, which made both Zenyatta and Ana slightly concerned, but when Hanzo cracked a smile, their worries managed to fade away

If Genji started crying, Hanzo would be at his side to comfort him until an adult could arrive

The kids absolutely loved playing with Genji’s dragon, especially when it gave them free rides on its back around the base

In the morning, Ana and/or Zenyatta hated waking up the younger Shimada brother just because he always seemed to be more at peace when he was sleeping

Happy Genji=A much happier day overall

Hanzo:

Hanzo was the only person in the Overwatch team that hadn’t been transformed into one or two year old

Instead he was now the oldest of the entire baby/toddler group at age five

Wonder what that says about him

Since Zenyatta mostly took care of Genji, he also became Hanzo’s main caretaker by de facto

Surprisingly, Hanzo doesn’t have much of an objection to it

He and Zenyatta are alright with it which relieves Ana and Winston to no end

Sometimes, Ana and Zenyatta let Hanzo hold baby Genji before they make sure all of the kids are asleep

Babbles Japanese when he’s awake or asleep

Athena helpfully translates what Hanzo’s saying when he spews a coherent amount of words with the archer looking at the AI curiously

If Hanzo isn’t around his little brother, McCree’s at his side, trying to annoy him

Noodle dragon burrito blanket. Enough said

Since he’s older, Ana and Winston let Hanzo play with his miniature bow and arrow more often than the other children

Because we all know what happens when you give Reinhardt and Torbjörn their hammers

Even though all three caretakers don’t know the archer well previously, they’re glad that they got to know Hanzo before they transformed him back into an adult

Jesse McCree:

It’s almost impossible to pry tiny Peacekeeper from his fingers when Ana gets off the dropship

She already has to keep tiny Widowmaker from murdering Tracer and make sure that Sombra doesn’t pull any tricks on the ship itself

Ana could sleep easier if she didn’t have to deal with McCree trying to shoot anything with an actual revolver with live bullets that are minuscule enough for Winston to say that anyone would need to use a microscopic lens if any of the bullets ever lodged itself into a target

McCree still has a tiny cowboy hat, even when he goes to sleep

The minute he gets out of his crib, he immediately searches either food, a drink or a spare rattle so he can pretend that he still has Peacekeeper with him

It was honestly such a captivating sight for Ana 

Only a while ago, she was helping a young McCree settle into Overwatch and Blackwatch

She even remembered helping him settle down after a particulary harsh reprimand from Gabe and introduced him to Fareeha in an attempt to find a way to calm down in the future

Needless to say, the two of them got along extremely well

Always babbling to one of the children, especially Pharah or Hanzo

He can’t go to sleep unless he has both his cowboy hat and a rattle. Otherwise, be prepared for a screaming baby until both of those wishes are fulfilled

Zenyatta generally stays out of McCree’s way since both Shimada brothers often take up most of his time, but when McCree’s with Hanzo, expect Zenyatta to persuade baby McCree into a short nap just for him to quiet down for a few precious hours

It doesn’t always happen, but when it does, it seems like even Zenyatta himself looks a bit younger

A very charming baby truth be told

One of the more popular babies, but he definitely enjoy a bit of time to himself

Baby McCree loves messing with Gabe a lot

Ana reasons that it’s his revenge for all the times he was scolded by the man

Honestly it’s the only reason that’s plausible enough for Ana to believe

Widowmaker and Sombra:

Whether Widow likes it or not, she and Sombra are attached at the hip

Where one goes, so does the other

Ana knows that Sombra’s the one behind Tracer’s malfunctioning chronal accelerator at the end of the day, especially since the two year old could be seen smirking as Lena tried her best to not fade out of existence for a one year old

It eventually becomes enough for Winston and Ana to find a way to disable Sombra’s hacking ability while she’s asleep

When they do, they finally relax, knowing that they have one less thing to worry about for now

Even though Widowmaker doesn’t have her machine gun anymore, she still has her recon visor on her

This proves to be extremely helpful when trying figuring out what lunch and dinner were going to be for the kids

She doesn’t talk too much, mostly to Sombra and occasionally Gabe

Widow deliberately avoids Jack and Angela, knowing deep down that she would be in trouble if she were in close proximity to those two

Ana keeps a closer eye on both Widowmaker and Sombra

Even though they’re only four and two, you’d be surprised as to how much chaos they could stir up in one day

Symmetra/Satya Vaswani, Lúcio and D.va:

Those three are the Golden Trio of Overwatch (second generation of course)

They remind Ana and Winston so much of the early days of Overwatch when it was her with Jack and Gabe

Out of the three, Symmetra enjoys being with Ana the most

She’s often sitting in a portable high chair next to Ana as she bustles around the kitchen, preparing a group meal

If Jack and Gabe get into one of their ‘fights’, the three of them tackle the two friends before anything serious could happen

And by tackle, I mean shoving stuffed animals in their faces as a distraction before dragging them to opposite sides of the room until they’ve both calmed down

Mama Ana’s so proud

Lúcio and D.va are often in mini competitions (who can build the hightest tower, who has the best toy, etc.) with Symmetra

Especially when Ana lets them play on child-friendly mobile apps

The competitions steep almost immediately

Thank God it doesn’t escalate to Jack and Gabe levels

Symmetra loves making new instruments for Lúcio when she sees them from a story that Ana or Zenyatta reads to them at night

You can hear Lúcio rocking out to them the next morning

Their beds are all in a single row next to each other

It makes it easier for Ana to put them to sleep since they all fall asleep at the same time

Mei, Zarya, Angela Ziegler/Mercy:

Baby Angela’s always right behind either Mei or Zarya while the two mess with their now tiny weapons

A golden beam’s always engulfing the two at various points of the day just so the things that get thrown at them doesn’t ache as much

Those two are just targets for the other kids for some reason

Yes, Angela has healed various others before. No, Ana doesn’t know about it yet

Yet

Mei loves freezing various toys that she and Zarya agree to getting rid of before Zarya sends it flying across the room and the two watch it smash in an icy cascade against the wall

Yes, this has happened many times. Yes, Ana knows about it

Is she gonna do anything about it? Probably not

As long as no one’s injured and no one gets upset, she’s alright with it

Zarya loves annoying Genji and will gleefully try and outrun his dragon if she manages to annoy him

It’s a challenge for herself to see how many times she can push his buttons every day

Sometimes Zarya has to deal with three dragons if Hanzo catches her in the act

Angela’s always there with her mini caduceus staff at the ready to patch up any wounds

Pharah/Fareeha Amari:

Out of all of the babies Ana could feel the most nostalgia for, it would be Pharah

She still had vivid memories bringing her home from the hospital after giving birth to her

Ana takes care of Fareeha the most since she knew what her daughter would want the most

Pharah’s taste haven’t changed since she was a child, but there are a few changes there

She prefers having a lullaby sung to her in Arabic instead of English (when it was the opposite in the past), her sleep schedule’s slightly different and she does have a bit more difficulty falling asleep

Fareeha still enjoyed baby McCree’s company and sometimes spent time with Emily and baby Lena

When Ana picked her up for bed, sometimes she might find a tiny braid Emily gave her when she was playing with Tracer’s hair

Ana may be older, but that doesn’t mean she couldn’t handle a baby strapped to her chest

Winston doesn’t question it when baby Pharah bounces in her baby carrier

Ana even brings out former methods to get her daughter to eat when she’s a bit fussy, which surprises her a bit, but what can you expect from a baby? They lived on a completely separate level from everyone else

Seeing the glee on Fareeha’s face instantly washes away the stress from Ana’s life, just like it did all those years ago

Especially when she giggles. Good Lord, Ana loves hearing her daughter giggle

Tagging: @chesswatchesclouds @thepandadrawer @thekittenships (please tell me if you don’t want to be tagged) @templarboyband @elise-the-assassin

[hell-on-training-wheels]

Quote meme – No. 15 + Erron Black and Soldier 76 (partially because of reading Kumulonimbus’s crossover fic ‘Business’)

Last but not least of my quote prompts. Sorry. This is the last one. I really need to work on my other crap. I also love @kumulonimbus fic as well because its the best two characters in the world teamed up with each other. What’s not to love? :)

Hope I did ok with the characters here. :/

“You really think you can beat me? That’scute.”

                                                          Thorn

Morrison sensed himself being watched for a while now, whichin all honesty didn’t really surprise noralarmed him considering his wanted posters were all over the walls of Dorado.That had been a week ago, and the feeling never abandoned him and onlyheightened. There was never fear or doubtabout his capability in neutralizing the threat when it eventually decided topresent itself. Rather, it was more of anxietythat they would pick the opportunity whenthey felt it was convenient—when he was at his most vulnerable.  Their mistake was that the old soldier neverlet his guard down, and he welcomed the challenge.

Whoever the man was, was certainly skilled and knew what hewas doing. A natural and patient hunter who Jack refused to overestimate.Still, he had confidence and held his posture to demonstrate that to whoeverwas watching him. Now he could feel his eyes on him, and even from his highvantage point on top of an apartment building, his visor could not locate them.Crouched with his back against the water tower, Morrison kept as much to theshadows as he possibly could. One of the Lumericopyramids illuminated most of the surrounding buildings with blinding amber and bluelight. Lumerico never slept and didn’tpay any sympathy for those in the apartment buildings that couldn’t because ofthe light streaming in. Besides the single annoyance, Dorado was silent for themost part. The vigilante had not even seen any Los Muertos stalking the street.That usually meant they were up to something and Jack had a feeling what itwas.

There had been wordthat a strange, unidentified shipment would be arrivingat the Mexican gang’s doorstep. Something potentially dangerous if Talonwas their buyer. Still, Los Muertos��was only the middleman, and there wasanother party involved. Unfortunately, that had been all the intel he hadgotten being how short noticed it was. They were getting it soon—tonightpossibly—and he stayed sharp for any suspicious movements in the deceptivelyquiet night.

Still, he knew that things were getting out of hand fast andhe would have to start searching. The longer he waited for them to showthemselves, the easier the drop-off would go. None of the cameras he had aroundDorado and linked to his visor picked up on any nefarious dealings or his mysterystalker. That was the other problematic concern on the back of his mind. Jackknew that it wasn’t wise to overlook the suspicious timeline of things. It wasn’ta coincidence that whoever was after him now was a part of the deal. LosMuertos would have told them about any issues that would cause the transfer to hitspeedbumps, and Soldier: 76 was the biggest thorn in their side. Either hiredby Los Muertos, Talon or the other third party, someone had been contracted totake him out.

His suspicions at first were Widowmaker, the Talon sniper,but his cohort had dismissed the idea.

“If Widowmaker had ashot on you, she would not wait a week to do so, Jack.”

Nobody knew that better than she did and Morrison trustedher. It was the same with Reyes. If Reaper wasthe one after him, then he would have shown himself by now.

When Jack heard the jangle of spurs behind him, he ruled outthe elusive hacker that worked with the pair as well.

The ex-Strike Commander found himself frowning heavily as he felt the presence behind him andwatched a familiar silhouette encroach on his kneeled position. A large Stetsonsat upon his hat, one that he should have recognized instantly. Something was off, though, and this didn’t feel like betrayal as much as he thought it should. Hisgut told him, this was another gun for hire and certainly not Jesse McCree.

The figure didn’t make a move,though, even if both men knew that they were at an impasse, and instead placedhis hands on his hips and waited for Jack to make the first move.

“What’s wrong?” Soldier: 76 scoffed. “Won’t shoot an old manin the back?”

He heard a baritone ‘hmph’ as Jack stood up but still didn’tface him. “I don’t get paid enough to do that,”was his reply. There was an arrogance to his drawl, and even though his wordsseemed honorable, his tone disclosed that he was anything but.

Jack saw the shadow’s shouldershrug before he added: “But for a little extra…”

“Admirable,” 76 commentedsarcastically. The older man switched the safety off the pulse rifle that hungin his arms with a subtle flick of the thumb. “But we both know how this turnsout.”

The cowboy gave a dark chuckle behind him, and he heard the hammer of a revolverclick back. “You really think you can takeme?” he derided darkly. “That’s cute.”

“I’m more spry than Ilook,” Morrison shot back. Finally, he turned to face the hitman and met himfor the first-time eye to eye.

Definitely not McCree, was the first thingthat popped into his mind as he observed him. Where most would poke fun atJesse for playing dress-up, there was no way to do it to this man without promise of looking down the barrel end of oneof the ancient, golden-colored revolvers he kept in his holsters. Dressed head to toe in leather, metal, and ammunition,his cold cobalt eyes regarded 76 with a contempt boldness that let the formerStrike Commander know that he was about as afraid of him as Morrison was. Therewas no denying he was an oddity, not because it was evident in his clothing andthe mask he wore, but from the aged look of experience,he carried himself with. His tanned,muscled arms scarred with tally-marks,not only told Jack all he needed to knowbut so did his poise. Even though he was younger than him, the man was good athis job, and he knew it, but still didn’tlet his ego go too much to his head. A true professional.

Jack shook his head at him as his tactical visor began toglow brighter. “You don’t want to goto war with me.”

The caustic, dark warning wastaken into consideration, but still the corner of the man’s kohl eyescrinkled; he was smirking in amusement under his leather mask.

“Sure I do,” he taunted almost passively.

76 was the first to bring up his gun, but like a true gunslinger, the cowboy wasquicker on the draw. He batted it away with the front of his rifle, but Morrisongrunted out in pain when his bullet cut through the fabric of his leatherjacket and sliced him alongside his torso.

Blood already coated his dark undershirt as he released ahand off his pulse rifle and threw an elbow towards the man’s face. Thegunslinger blocked it with the outside of his forearm as his hand reached forhis other revolver. Jack kicked out, landing a foot in his chest thatcatapulted the man backward. His revolverfired and missed Jack as he rolled out of the way.

Kneeled, he brought his rifle up and fired on him. Thehitman’s tattered poncho nearly escaped 76’s volley of fire as he rolled out ofthe way and took shelter behind the water tower. Morrison picked himself up andmoved as the cowboy rounded the tower and fired on the spot where the older manonce was.

The old soldier’s back hit the wooden shell of the water tower, and he waited for any sounds of movementfrom the other side. The hitman mirrored his same idea, and Jack took the time to reload as they both waited for theeither to make the first move.

“You are spry,” came a contemptuous remark from the otherside. “But I wonder how much longer you can keep this up.”

Jack heard footsteps approachhis left and instead of running, he met the man halfway. Unfortunately, he didnot expect him to roll forward, dodge his incoming fire and place his revolver intohis stomach as he climbed back up to his feet.

White, blinding light exploded across his abdomen when thegun fired, and the next thing Jack knew was he was on his back and soaking wet.His eyes twisted tight behind his visor, andhe pressed a hand over his wounded stomach as blood flowed out. He didn’t know ifit was purposeful, but he missed his vital organs and only blew a hole in his side. There was heat under him, so hot hecould feel it through his damaged coat,and he figured it had to be an exit wound.

The cowboy only meant to cripple him, and it became obvious itwas his intent when he sauntered towards Morrison and cocked his revolver abovehis head. Morrison winced in pain as the dark tunnel peered down at him fromthe assassin’s hand.

He rose an eyebrow at him, regarding him with a somewhat disappointedexpression. “Is this how’d you think it turnout?”

As his finger wrapped around the trigger, the bounty huntergave a sharp cry and flung his free hand to his neck. Instantly, he fell backwards with a back-breaking thump as his gunhit the ground and clattered away from him. Now unconscious, Morrison climbedback to his feet and smiled at the dart embeddedin his neck and said: “Actually. It was.”

Jack turned towards the bank’s roof and gave a salute toAmari for her impeccable aim with her sleep dart, and over the earpiece, he heard her give a soft laugh as shesaluted back to him in acknowledgment.

[josephlrushing]

The Most Protected Armored Civilian Vehicles in the World

The powers that be are often at risk of showing up in public without a suit or bodyguards. Sometimes, this is due to real security issues; sometimes, it’s just a common whim. But nothing will provide a better feeling of protection as your very own, personal armored car with proper features/characteristics and, of course, at a reasonable price.

We are pleased to present seven of the most luxurious armored cars for VIPs that will provide their owners with any level of comfort and protection — if you have the means.

Cadillac Escalade ESV is a car that looks like a luxury limousine from the inside. Don’t be fooled by the leather/wood interior – there several millimeters of bulletproof armor underneath. The vehicle also features high-strength tempered glass and an armor plate at the bottom for protection against explosions. However, the armor does not conflict with the interior decoration and can withstand almost any bullet firing.

AddArmor, a US company from Wyoming that specializes in the armored protection of passenger cars and SUVs, has introduced a new set of improvements called Executive Protection Package for Cadillac Escalade. The emphasis was not only on vehicle protection but also on more luxurious interior design.

The alterations include installation of special plates, made of composite materials, along the perimeter of the cabin, which, according to the company representatives, are ten times stronger and 60% lighter than traditional armored steel, as well as 2-inch thick bulletproof glass. They can withstand gunfire, including assault rifles and handgun bullets up to .44 Magnum.

In the event of an attack, a siren can be activated, and blast protection is also provided. Moreover, the modified SUV has received reinforced brakes and can run with flat tires.

The roof is lifted by 4.3 inches to allow LED lighting and more space above the head. The vehicle also features a 32″ TV, Wi-Fi, an Around View Monitor with night vision, and Sony audio system.

Lexus LS 460 L. The Lexus LS 460 L is the benchmark for making premium cars. In addition to stylish design, comfortable interior, and a “beastly” engine capable of producing up to 389 HP, the vehicle has a high level of safety. Bulletproof windows and a body of the car withstand intense, concentrated fire from 7.62 mm rifles. Moreover, the vehicle will be able to protect against splinters and fragmentation grenade attacks.

INKAS, the company behind this car, preferred to invest in the ability to quickly get away from the chase rather than armor. Although the LS 460 L is partially protected from fire, it will primarily save the owner through high speed.3. Huron APC. They say that only civilian sissies hide the armor under the body… Need to move a valuable cargo? VIP? Particularly dangerous prisoners? Huron APC comes to the rescue! Today, any luxury car can boast with 7.62-mm gunfire resistance – what about 40 mm grenade launchers? In fact, even those are not the limit for the Huron APC.

Most luxury armored vehicles try to disguise themselves as ordinary cars, but Huron APC does the exact opposite. The exterior of the vehicle clearly hints that you don’t want to mess with it. The armor can withstand any kind of gunfire and grenade attacks. Oh yeah, you also have a machine gun mounted on the roof.

Conquest Knight XV. This monster’s outfit includes steel plates, Kevlar layers, and GRP for weak spots, e.g., a bumper. The wheels are reinforced with extra-strong aluminum and virtually cannot be damaged in any way. The interior is simply luxurious, with a satellite TV, bar, water cooler, heated seats, and even a black box.

The Conquest Knight XV is based on the Ford F-550 Super Duty. The “heart” is available in 6.8-liter (gas) or 6.7-liter (diesel) options – in both cases, it’s a Ford unit. Based on the engine, the horsepower is 325 or 300. The vehicle is also equipped with a five-speed automatic transmission.

The natural leather interior features a dual air conditioner, six seats, an Alpine audio system, and an automatic front window-tinting system. A large TV with a satellite dish and an oxygen tank (in case of a gas attack) are also available options. The number of cars produced does not exceed 100 units.

Kombat T98. An indestructible fortress on the outside and a luxurious palace on the inside, the Kombat T98 is designed for the wealthiest people who dream of absolute protection on the road. In addition to power armor, the set also includes gold plated interior and whale-skin seats.

The vehicle is civilian but fully armored, which means that the plates are not hidden under the body, and the body itself consists of armor steel. With all this, the vehicle also does not have the worst design at all.

Paramount Group Marauder. Global Defense, known as the Paramount Group from South Africa, has created one of the largest, most rugged SUVs in the world, the Marauder.

This vehicle is threateningly huge; it makes Hummer H1 look like a toy. The Marauder is 9.8-feet (3 m) high, 21.2-feet (6.5 m) long, and almost 10-feet wide. According to a legendary former “Top Gear” host, Richard Hammond, the Marauder “is the most unstoppable vehicle in the world.”

The off-road vehicle was designed for military use, both in peacekeeping missions, reconnaissance expeditions, and troop transportations. Being fully armored, it also has a V-shaped body designed to repel potential roadside IED (improvised explosive devices) and landmine attacks.

Because of its large cargo surface, the Marauder can carry up to 10 soldiers and their equipment, as well as the driver and commander in the front. The company decided to make a civilian version of the monster truck available at $500,000.

The heart of the “beast” is a good oil’ diesel engine with an output of about 300 HP and 811 ft-lb of torque. The vehicle weighs around 12 tons, depending on what options are installed. Even with that weight, the Marauder can easily reach speeds of up to 75 mph.

The Cummins diesel engine provides low enough torque for the Marauder to overcome various obstacles with virtually no problems.

A few simple facts will tell you a lot about Paramount’s Marauder:

It has infantry, ambulance, and command center modifications.

It can withstand a 30-lb (wheels) and 15-lb (body) TNT explosion, resulting in one of the most protected vehicles in the world.

The travel range can be increased by 310 miles by installing additional tanks.

The Marauder is able to overcome a Ford half its height.

The climate control system ensures comfort inside the vehicle.

The vehicle is able to tow an 18-ton trailer.

A remote fuse blocker, which is often ordered by wealthy owners, is also optionally available.

ArmorMax Dodge Charger Hellcat. The US company has built a bulletproof version of the “charged” sedan Dodge Charger Hellcat. The vehicle can be protected in accordance with class B7, i.e., the vehicle can withstand 7.62 caliber fire shots and grenade attacks under the bottom.

The Hellcat received armored glass, Run Flat tires, flashing beacons, a front-bumper police ram, as well as additional protection of the fuel tank, electronic control unit, radiator, battery, and engine. Moreover, the car can be ordered with a gas-attack protection system that completely blocks the outside air supply and a loudspeaker system.

The sedan’s propulsion system remains the same. The Hellcat is still equipped with a 6.2-liter 8V engine, producing 717 HP and 650 ft-lb of torque. The changes are an AWD and reinforced suspension that matches the increased weight.

What Makes a Vehicle Safe?

According to Jim Malkovich from Mechanicfaq.com and Chris Collard from Consumer Reports, the most important factor of a four-wheeled vehicle is its safety. Let’s find out what makes a car safe.

Car classification and its weight come first – the higher the class, the greater the weight, the safer the car. During an accident, buckled up passengers, sitting in a powerful vehicle, will experience relatively less stress. Life itself and numerous crash tests confirm that. We can confidently state that a full-size off-road vehicle and a heavy sedan of an executive class are in a tangible gain among passenger cars.

The safety of a vehicle also depends directly on the age of its construction. Thus, modern vehicle bodies are equipped with special load-bearing elements able to dampen both the speed and impact energy smoothly. The interior “cage,” including the seats, is built to last, manufactured from high-strength steel to be as strong as possible. The elements of such a “cage” retain the necessary living space for people, even in the most extreme conditions.

It is safer to have a vehicle with the proper-designed chassis. This is due to the ability to stabilize the car after a maneuver or slow down at the right time. Every detail is essential – the ability to make maneuvers, steering precision, rollability, weight, stability, suspension, drifting propensity, the center of gravity, ECU settings, etc.

from Joseph Rushing https://geardiary.com/2020/07/07/the-most-protected-armored-civilian-vehicles-in-the-world/

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: More Trades, Goalie Shutouts, Pens’ D Problems (Feb 24)

With the trade deadline fast approaching, I'm hoping there might be a pearl of wisdom or two in what I’m going to write here. Because of the fluid situations on many teams, there are also observations that could be outdated by tomorrow. All we can do now is get into where things stand now and see what happens next.

To put it another way, it should be a crazy 36 hours coming up. You know we’ll be updating things constantly here with our fantasy takes and our Trade Tracker.

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In one of the early games, Sam Reinhart recorded a hat trick in the Sabres’ 5-2 win over Washington. Reinhart has been heating up lately with six points in his last five games. There shouldn’t be much concern that Reinhart is not playing on Jack Eichel’s line at the moment. Reinhart’s 55 points in 61 games already represents a career high, so he’s followed the “fourth year breakout” theory to a tee.

Jeff Skinner appeared to dodge a bullet, as he returned to the game in the third period after getting his leg twisted with Carl Hagelin’s stick in the second period. There was obvious concern that the Sabres would be losing Skinner and his 36 goals for an extended period, but this injury appeared a lot worse than it turned out to be.

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Dobber checked in with the Fantasy Take of the Stars acquiring Mats Zuccarello, which includes a comprehensive list of players potentially helped or hurt by the trade.

Bubble wrapping their assets in the event of a potential trade, the Rangers held out all of Zuccarello, Kevin Hayes, and Adam McQuaid on Saturday. Yet they still managed to defeat the Devils, who were holding out Marcus Johansson for the same reason. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a season where so many teams have decided to scratch players who are on the trade block. If these teams are out of the playoff race, then there’s no incentive for them not to do this. In fact, I’m surprised that teams haven’t done this sooner. The loser of course is the paying fan, who potentially misses a player or two that they were hoping to see.

The Zuccarello/Hayes scratches meant that Ryan Strome picked up 19 minutes of icetime. He took advantage of the situation, scoring twice. This will be a year or two too late for fantasy owners who were saving Strome in their keeper pools, but Strome has been scoring at a point-per-game pace over his last seven games. Maybe, just maybe, Strome is someone who benefits from Zuccarello leaving and Hayes possibly leaving by Monday. 

Back to Zucc: He is expected to be in the Stars’ lineup today (Sunday) against Chicago.

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After the Wayne Simmonds hit (see below) on Brian Dumoulin which resulted in both Dumoulin and Kris Letang leaving the game (Letang injured in the ensuing melee), the Penguins’ best hope appeared to be that the outdoor game would be rained out.    

Simmonds' hit on Dumoulin. pic.twitter.com/F2trugCpEM

— Broad Street Hockey (@BroadStHockey) February 24, 2019

Even without one of their defensive pairs, the Pens were able to take a 3-1 lead late into the third period before the Flyers scored twice to tie the game before the end of regulation. Then Claude Giroux scored the overtime winner to seal the Penguins’ fate in what had to be their most demoralizing defeat of the season. Dumoulin has a concussion and will miss time, while Letang was being evaluated for an upper-body injury and may miss time. Between the injuries on defense (Olli Maatta also sidelined) and the division rival Blue Jackets’ recent upgrades, the Pens are now in tough to make the playoffs. That’s something we haven’t heard in a while. You know that GM Jim Rutherford is on the phone looking for blueline help.

If Letang misses time, it goes without saying that Justin Schultz is a must-add. Schultz scored his first goal of the season to give him three points in the five games since his return. I’m crossing my fingers that Letang is back in two weeks when my fantasy playoffs begin. That’s what you live with when you own Letang, as I have for 8+ years. Maybe I’ll start a podcast called Keeping Letang, which will be like a group therapy session for owning injured players. The frustrating part is this injury happened during a scrum when he was tackled by Shayne Gostisbehere (on the same fantasy team, coincidentally) and could have easily been avoided. The silver lining is that I also have Schultz as insurance.  

Jakub Voracek, who scored the game-tying goal with just 20 seconds in regulation, ended up with a three-point game. Voracek had been held without a point in his previous three games but had a nine-game point streak before that.  

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Speaking of the Blue Jackets, things are just peachy right now as they load up to try to win at least one playoff series. Matt Duchene scored his first Blue Jackets goal and added an assist, while Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 26 shots he faced in a 4-0 win over San Jose. Bob now has shutouts in consecutive nights, so right now you’re getting the Bobrovsky that you thought you were drafting. He’s won seven of his last nine games and has pitched shutouts in three of his past six games. More importantly, he’s out of John Tortorella’s doghouse. At least for the moment.  

Anyone else feeling smug as fuck as Bobrovsky posts B2B shutouts heading on a team loading up as we approach H2H fantasy playoffs? The legend of H2H playoff goalie Bob continues to grow.

— Stephen Laidlaw (@SteveLaidlaw) February 24, 2019

To expand on that, here are the post All-Star Game numbers for Bobrovsky:

2017-18: 15-7-3, 2.36 GAA, .921 SV%

2016-17: 13-8-3, 1.99 GAA, .936 SV%

2015-16: 4-6-0, 3.00 GAA, .899 SV%

2014-15: 14-2-1, 2.39 GAA, .927 SV%

2013-14: 12-6-2, 2.13 GAA, .932 SV%

If you’re drafting Bob, it’s for this time of year. Aside from the 2015-16 blemish, he’s been lights out when you’ve needed him the most.

I wrote a few paragraphs about the Dzingel trade and how the Blue Jackets and Senators are affected. You can check them out here. The two teams are essentially swapping left wingers, so I’ll summarize my piece by saying that one could theoretically replace the other on their new teams.

By the way, bad news for Erik Karlsson owners. Karlsson didn’t play in the third period and may have “retweaked his groin,” an injury that forced him to miss nine games this earlier this month and last month.

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It was a good day for shutouts if you needed one. Aside from Bobrovsky, here are three more.

Curtis McElhinney stopped all 24 shots he faced in a 3-0 win over the Stars. Curtis Mac is timesharing with Petr Mrazek, but that hasn’t stopped him from posting wins in 9 of his last 11 games. During that stretch (since New Year’s Eve), McElhinney has a 2.18 GAA and .925 SV%. Mrazek has pitched shutouts in two of his last four starts, but I’d still give lifetime backup McElhinney the upper hand in this goaltending battle if Rod Brind’Amour had to pick a starter for Game 1 of the playoffs.

Philipp Grubauer made 38 saves to earn his first shutout as a member of the Avalanche. The Avs are invested in Grubauer beyond this season, but I’m wondering if there’s at least an outside chance that they bring Semyon Varlamov back next season. Varlamov has had significant stretches of the kind of numbers that you don’t want near your fantasy team, but he has been playing better lately with four wins over his last five starts and six quality starts over his last seven games. So the shutout won’t necessarily result in more playing time for Grubauer.

The legend of both Robin Lehner’s personal turnaround and the Islanders’ team turnaround continues, as he stopped all 36 Canuck shots in a 4-0 shutout win. The Isles’ goaltending situation mirrors the Canes’, as both goalies from each team are worth owning while both teams sit in the league’s top 10 in goals against (the Islanders first overall in team GAA). Lehner and Greiss are owned in the majority of Yahoo leagues. Surprisingly, McElhinney and Mrazek are not (both owned in around 30% of Yahoo leagues).

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The Canes/Stars game featured two significant “outjuries” (as the Keeping Karlsson podcast calls them).

Ben Bishop returned for the Stars, stopping 28 of 30 shots he faced in a 3-0 loss. Bishop is posting his best numbers (2.29 GAA, .924 SV%) since the 2015-16 season, when he was the starting goalie for the Lightning. Get him back into your lineup.

Jordan Staal was back in lineup after missing the past two months with a concussion. He recorded an assist in just under 14 minutes of icetime centering Micheal Ferland and Teuvo Teravainen. Injury returns can be just as effective as trade deadline upgrades, particularly if the team has been getting by without the player.

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Some contract news that probably flew under the radar for many: According to Ren Lavoie, Frank Vatrano has signed a three-year extension with the Panthers that will pay him an average of $2.53 million per season. Now that he has received a regular NHL opportunity, Vatrano has scored a career-high 20 goals in just 59 games while seeing icetime with some of the Panthers’ big boys. At age 24, Vatrano has sleeper potential, and the new contract should solidify his spot on the Panthers.

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With Connor McDavid serving the first game of his two-game suspension, Sam Gagner moved up to the Oilers’ first-unit power play. He scored his first goal (even strength) in his second stint with the Oilers, helping them to a 2-1 win over Anaheim. With no McDavid, there isn’t really much to the Oilers offense beyond Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, which wasn’t the case when the Oilers first drafted McDavid. Maybe that asset mismanagement will result in them adding one of Jack Hughes or Kaapo Kakko in the draft this summer. I bet Twitter would explode if the lottery balls bounced that way.

Corey Perry might get a call from the league for suckering Darnell Nurse here…

Things that make you go…. 🤔 -ND pic.twitter.com/4eWqkfQKVf

— Oilersnation.com (@OilersNation) February 24, 2019

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Enjoy the trade deadline coverage, wherever you are watching!

For more fantasy hockey information, you can follow me on Twitter @Ian_Gooding.

from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-more-trades-goalie-shutouts-pens-d-problems-feb-24/